The always interesting Commander Salamander has an outstandingly good post on what's happening in Europe right now with the so-called 'refugee' crisis. He compares it to our experience in the USA, and ends with a grim warning. I'm going to quote extensively from his article, but you really need to click over there and read the whole thing for yourself. It's worth your time.
The post-war global Western liberal consensus is being torn apart by its own internal contradictions that keep its political mechanisms paralyzed to inaction.
. . .
Why did this come to pass?
It starts with more than a little willful disregard for human nature and history in the modern era's governing class. In a strange alignment with various socio-political power centers - lessons learned by previous generations' blood and treasure is ignored.
This disregard is driven by three well meaning mental aspirations, and four malignancies.
First of all there is simply a desire not to address uncomfortable questions driven out of "polite conversation" by the same people who caused the discomfort.
Second, we have a certain narcissism in our governing class who feel they are better than those generations that came before. They can shape things better because they are smarter. With just enough money and virtue signaling, they can make it so that we can all live in a rainbow world powered by unicorn poop.
Third, tied in with that narcissism of virtue, is a narcissism of the now. "What are people saying about ME now? What support am I getting NOW?"
. . .
That leads to the malignancies.
Those three aspirations all have to do with a desire for social acceptance and popularity - an adult version of middle school social positioning. There are also reasons that have to do with a darker side of the psyche that lead to the four malignancies.
First, as you have here in the USA, there is the cultural self-loathing from the left and those seduced by the social capital that comes from being on the "good right" (see David Brooks). They want to pull themselves up as separate from their host culture by doing all they can by bring that culture down to a lower level. For whatever reason, they hate the nest they were born to. Unable to find self-worth in themselves, they can only hope to destroy that which they blame for their own inadequacies. All the good of the West is ignored or smeared - every mistake or bad point brought in to focus, exaggerated and used as a club to beat to a pulp all that is good.
Second are the grasping seekers of cheap labor. Squeezing every possible bit of margin to compete against the sweat shops of the world. Industries can gain only so much by automation in the face of a developed society's wage pressures. As such, they use their influence to bring in "guest workers" who will do for low wages what native born will not do. They never leave, and their children won't do that work, so more imports need to come. That is easier to do than attacking unfair trade practices - and is easier to get allies that will support for other reasons than economic ones.
Problem is, these low-cost, unskilled labor come from cultures that are not compatible with their host nations, they do not assimilate, and are not encouraged to.
. . .
Third is something related to cultural self-loathing, and that is compassion pimping ... the compassion pimps want to show how much they care about others far away, while ignoring those already in their care ... Better to show how much you care by inviting in masses of problems that will live in "other people's" neighborhoods, go to school with other people's kids, go to public swimming pools - not in your gated community, not to your private school, not in your personal pool, not dating your daughters and sons.
Fourth and most cynical is voter replacement. One of the best ways to control populations is to keep them distinct. Give them something arbitrary that keeps them in a box, and then have that box as a reliable part of your voting block ... Keep them isolated, but make them citizens as soon as you can so they can vote. Or, in the USA - like California - issue them drivers' licenses even before the become citizens so they can vote. In all cases, bring them in from cultures that see the government as a source of patronage - and reinforce that fact. Make sure you are seen as the party of government. Make sure they know who is on their side - and who is not.
History shows this never ends well - but if no one is encouraged to look at history and you don't teach in anymore - who is going to warn you? How will you know?
Of course, none of this happens in isolation. Eventually there is a reaction. The original inhabitants will, if ignored by mainstream and responsible politicians long enough, look to other places. They will begin to radicalize if they feel they need to in order to have their concerns addressed. Pressure will build and can only be contained so long.
. . .
The solution is not going to be pleasant for anyone - and the bad stuff hasn't even happened yet. Anyone who thinks this has a happy ending is a fool.
You can have your liberal welfare state, or you can have mass 3rd World immigration. You can't have both.
There's more at the link. As I said earlier, click over there and read the rest. It's worth it.
This is the dilemma facing us in the USA as well. I think President-elect Trump has the right of it. We've got to get rid of our illegal immigrant problem, preferably by persuading them to self-deport, deporting them forcibly if they won't do it themselves, and securing our borders to stop more of them submerging our culture and civilization in a flood tide of - literally - aliens (see, in particular, definitions 7 and 8 at the link).
I wish Mr. Trump well in his efforts. I'll do all I can to support them, and oppose those of the people and organizations who want to confound them. I strongly suggest that we all do likewise.
Peter
Over at Didacts Reach, he'd posted some interesting stuff on "skin in the game" related to immigration, voting, and an earlier post of mine.
ReplyDeletehttp://didactsreach.blogspot.com/2017/01/fixing-magic-dirt-problem.html
40 years ago the roots of this problem were growing via the "gastarbeiter" system, thousands of islamic men with no hope and no real future and no mechanism to integrate them. Now the number is millions and still no solution. The potential for devastating violence is nearly inevetible. Mass deportation might help but the political cost will be painful and the cultural destruction worse. Thank you Mutti Merkle.
ReplyDeletePeople here, by and large, won't believe it until they start hitting here... Sigh
ReplyDelete