Most Mexican "illegals" live in a land that was still Mexico at the time some of their grandfathers were born.
The Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848, which gave the U.S. undisputed control of Texas, and ceded to the United States the land of the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming. In return, Mexico received $15,000,000. The acquisition was controversial among U.S. politicians that had opposed the war from the start.
President Ulysses S. Grant, who as a young army officer had served in Mexico under General Taylor, wrote in his Memoirs, published in 1885,
"I was bitterly opposed ... to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation."_ And on another occasion said, "I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico. I had a horror of the Mexican War, and I have always believed that it was on our part most unjust. The wickedness was not in the way our soldiers conducted it, but in the conduct of our government in declaring was. We had no claim on Mexico. Texas had no claim beyond the Nueces River, and yet we pushed on to the Rio Grande and crossed it. I am always ashamed of my country when I think of that invasion"
California, Texas and the rest of these lands have been developed into present day economic powerhouses at the expense of a stolen Mexican heritage and patrimony, and a good deal of cooperative labor by irredentist Mexicans working as expatriates alongside their conquerors.
It is in the nature of friendly relations between the imperial giant and the its more humble neighbor to the south that no petition is ever put forward for economic rectification for the dastardly and murderous forced annexation of nearly half of Mexico some one hundred and sixty years ago.
But since African-Americans and their just minded allies have a long standing movement for compensation for the unpaid work and suffering of their ancestors as slaves in enterprises built up to successes by the labor of men and women enslaved against their will. And since this call for restitution is gaining strength and adherents every year and some serious legal action is taking place with many descendents of slavers and slave owners coming to admit it is justified, long overdue and must eventually be forthcoming.
Should African-Americans be successful then one can well imagine the possibility of Mexicans also coming to request economic considerations and/or compensation in one form or another for the immoral action that took from Mexicans their most valuable resource, land. Such an ethical review of the history of the United States could be healthy and propitious.
African-Americans and Mexicans make up a large part of America's economically dis-privileged underclass society. If the homicidal injustice of present wars of occupation were ended the trillions saved could be used in intelligent restitution arrangements for the institution of American slaves and even perhaps for the stealing of half of Mexico.
Oh, there would arise a hue and cry about how and who should benefit and how much. A agency would have to be created to effect opportunities for education, health benefits, housing and arts and culture to be made available to qualifying members of that underclass sector of American society which is a sore on the body politic of the nation.
America has always had money to throw away destroying other nations like Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Some day it might spend such monies to improve America.
This article is not suggesting anything concrete in the way of dealing with America's past perfidy. The essay is rather directed at those Americans who are self-righteous and outraged at comparatively much smaller misdemeanors and illegalities of Mexicans and other would be immigrants from nations to the South whose home economies are dominated profitably by U.S. conglomerate corporations.
They climb fences and swim across rivers, risking their lives to be able to provide for their families in a world divided into those that have-so-much and those that have-so-little as a result of less than fair intra-national predatory trade.
Of course the present situation is highly complex with suffering on both sides. Depressing the wages of local citizens with the use of cheaper foreign labor is always a method of increasing profits for employers. The majority of the immigrants would not come if there were no work offers waiting for them.
Much of the criminal element would then also not come, for most are parasites preying on immigrant communities. Criminalizing such a large part of the work force breeds crime in itself, and opens opportunities for all kinds of unscrupulous taking advantage of the insecurity of families of illegals. Drugs would not come in if there were not a plethora of well-healed buyers. As President Evo Morales of Bolivia has said, "The drug abuse must be eliminated in the noses of the gringos."
Mix the problems and desires of all concerned, job hungry immigrants, Americans trying to protect their jobs, employers vying with each other, pressure on social services and crime control, frustration fueling racism, dangerous drugs, the children's education and health and no solution that completely satisfies everyone seems possible.
But if through compassion, love of fairness and a clean conscience with everyone giving a little in human recognition that all are each other's brothers and sisters, hermanos and hermanas, then acceptable and comfortable compromises could be made and future improvements expected.
Those coming in from Mexico deserve American understanding. It would be a big step forward to respect a sense of history that has joined the culture and people of Mexico with that of America.
The single market and open borders of the twenty-seven nations of the European Union guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital through a standardized system of laws which apply in all member states gives a living and working example of what could be the future of the North America community of nations.
Musician and writer, who has lived and worked on all the continents and whose articles on media have been published in China, Italy, England and the US, and now resides in New York City.
To think of questions with long-term ramifications during a time when passion is rabid over an issue makes for congratulations. The article does some of that. It is a metaphor for American fair play, as we deal with "ethnic" demographic issues. In my view, it requires US citizens and residents to think of the human condition--something bigger than mere patriotism.
by
Margaret Bassett (38 articles, 2206 quicklinks, 30 diaries, 1501 comments)
on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 9:05:44 AM
You might want to ask your State representative energy conservation? How much gas, oil and electricity we could save, if we sent illegal aliens packing. We cannot keep up the demand for it right now! Oil! Diversity Alliance for Sustainable America.(earthtimes) stated in it's article that if the U.S. grants amnesty and gives citizenship to 12 to 30 million illegal migrants already here, as McCain, Obama and the majority of Democrats propose. That all those naturalized citizens could possibly add 120 million U.S. and foreign-born relatives to the U.S., in the next 20 years whom all will CONSUME MAJOR ENERGY. Does the American people need to escalate the 315 million plus population, the census estimates we have now? To a new total of 435 million?
The executive director of (DASA) admitted "Proposal to reduce energy costs in the U.S. will not work unless we also simultaneously curb U.S. population growth by reducing immigration and curbing teen pregnancies." Severing the illegal immigration occupation and deporting those already here is a good start, but not the complete solution to this serious energy problem that cannot be reversed. Unless another Nikola Tesla, an underrated genius of the 19th century invents a some new form of energy, we will be reliant on fossil fuels for years to come? Clean coal, geothermal, eco-fuel and of course wind power and solar. The latter is energy that is a perpetual source of unimaginable power that knows no bounds.
Americans cannot afford to subsidize illegal aliens here with billions in our tax dollars, or the millions who will jump the fence in the future. Only THE FEDERAL SAVE ACT (H.R.4088) offers any chance of halting this overpopulation quicksand It's enactment will give ICE and the police more enforcement powers. Join www.numbersusa.com for free and become part of a solution and not lies.
by
Dave Francis (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 8 comments)
on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 12:12:42 PM
It's not fair of the author to play the history card here as he does. Anyone willing and able to read history will inevitably come to the conclusion I have come to : we live on their land.
About me, caucasion, a smidgeon native american (one drop will do!), English ancestry that is so fresh, I myself am a member of the 3rd generation born in the USA, born and raised in an area full of native american history and artifacts....so plentiful they are difficult to avoid, lived in south-central Az. for a number of years and was able to see that part of the country for what it really is: theirs. WE are the real guests there. Don't believe me? Go there, listen and learn. I know this sounds hard for some ears, but we had no business going there in the first place. Manifest Destiny don't cut it, bro. In time, we will eventually have to move back out. For now, we're a) ignoring the facts and b) struggling to retain our claim on their land. Some serious sh*te gonna go down the day the Colorado drys up. A round of Golf anyone? How forking disgusting we all are. How blind. How totally full of sh*t stuck up , self-righteous and pompious. We scream "out the illegals!" while the our war criminal-in-chief continues to walk free. So full of sh*t, so utterly and totally full of sh*t. So what do we do? We re-elect Sherrif Joe. Yeah! Sherrif Joe will get them f*ckers.
Sure.
by
Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments)
on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 12:14:28 PM
Janson's tearful cry for historical justice is a bit like a discussion using mathematics, with the subject matter restricted to measurement by the numbers seven, eight and nine. Pointless.
Of course the US stole Mexico. It also stole the entire US. And those who invaded fled oppression in their home countries, the oppressors generally being those who earlier were forced to migrate by invading Romans, Picts, Goths, Huns; and so on. The story of mankind.
If Janson demands recognition of the principle of compensation, then this is justice only if it applies to all victims; not just his select few. So Janson had better trace the victims back a few millennia and draw up an accounting balance sheet to apportion restitution. He will find much of the lost wealth in the Vatican, WB, IMF and BIS.
But wait a minute, Janson; theft is not only land hegemony; it is also the plundering of resources. America became wealthy by plundering an 80% share of the world's resources: oil, copper, gold, bauxite, manganese, uranium, etc. This wealth was secured through 43 military invasions and occupations; and with 170 takeovers of governments of sovereign people. You do plan to compensate us too, don't you? Include Iran and Palestine while you are at it.
The thing is, Janson old chap, you are broke. America is bankrupt. Your Federal Reserve banker cabals have sucked America dry and are quietly moving their assets and capital off-shore, so you are pissing in the wind. The entire compensation and restitution campaign is limited to parasitical political activists who are angling for something for nothing. La Raza is exactly that, and with a violent criminal edge.
If you want to make a difference, open your eyes to the wide world and learn for a change. Set up a national health system, copying from UK, Japan or Taiwan. Scrap the IRS and install a flat tax so that the plutocrats and corporations finally pay their way. Tell Jessie Jackson to get a real job and, most of all, keep your military at home. Then, perhaps the rest of us in the world might get some justice. Tony Ryan, Australia.
by
Tony Ryan (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments)
on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 6:12:42 PM
Go back a few hundred years when the United States was just a vast land inhabited by native Americans. Studies have shown the native Americans migrated to what is now the U.S. during the ice Age by following the frozen coast that arched between Europe and the east coast of America. They also came across the frozen coast line between Russia and our pacific northwest. These Native Americans were gradually rooted out of their land by a continual stream of immigrants looking for a better life and relief from oppression. The natives lost their homeland because they lack the will and the means to secure their borders and control rampant immigration. If you want to give those states back to Mexico The folks who live in them will almost all live in poverty because that is the way Mexico functions in regards to the distribution of wealth.
by
Gary Denson (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 283 comments)
on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 8:36:38 PM
Mexican immigrants subsidize the US with underpaid labor.
Gary writing as an accountant reads only one side of the ledger. It is Mexican immigrants who subsidize the US economy, employers and all consumers with their underpaid labor.
Gas guzzling Americans were advised decades ago by the Japanese to build high speed commuter trains. But no, the short range profit based outlook of the petroleum and auto industry lobbies against this and keeps the country on the absurd principle of use of the private motor vehicle as a means of urban and interurban mass transit.
And don't blame the incoming poor Mexicans, who in their modest life style consume far less energy than the average American who is only semi-conscious of plight of the rest of the world for America's irrational consumption of such an enormous amount of the energy available for the whole planet.
Remember the title. Kindness brings its own reward. Calculated kindness is seen for what it is.
by
Jay Janson (85 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 97 comments)
on Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 11:29:07 AM
T Forrest/G Denson point out ommission of Native Americans
Thanking Native America Tony Forrest and Gary Denson. Will correct next edition of article to read:
"Native-Americans have shown the way in getting court decisions in favor of recognizing injustices and awarding compensations and some rectifications.
Native-American, African-American and Mexican Immigrants......."
Though the article was about the immigration issue Native Americans had to be included in the discussion of rectification and compensantion as the injustices done to Native Americans were the primary and fundamental injustices that preceeded all others.
Appreciatively,
jay janson
by
Jay Janson (85 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 97 comments)
on Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 12:12:33 PM
This is the most bias piece of rag I have EVER read. You deliberately make it sound as though there is no work in Mexico for these people when the truth is that they LEFT jobs in Mexico to come here! That's SUPPOSED to be why they let them move our jobs out of the country to Mexico! Corporations: whining: "We will help the mexican people by giving them jobs by taking our business there""....whine, whine, sniffle, sniffle. BIG LIARS. It's also clear they took our jobs there for mere selfish greedy reasons! Either that or they are too stupid to live....u call it. You are clearly a traitor against the American people and you deserve to be HANGED. Shame on you for being disloyal to your own people. Just wait til ur Karma comes around to bite you....wish I could be a fly on the wall! Just remember, I told you so...
by
Zena Princess (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 82 comments)
on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 1:23:38 AM
Your lame and stale arguments about who this land USED to belong to, belongs in the trash. It is a moot point. Our laws state: Possession is nine tenths of the law. So stow it. And tell us another 'cause that one is too old. War anyone?
by
Zena Princess (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 82 comments)
on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 1:27:05 AM
The famous environmental club the Sierra Club effectively resigned their jobs of policing the environment and educating people on the perils of overpopulation in 1996 when they were bought for over a hundred thou by a donation from Wall Street investor David Golbaum who mandated that the money was based on the requirement that they NEVER mention overpopulation again...as it would affect immigration.
by
Zena Princess (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 82 comments)
on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 1:33:29 AM
Oh one more thought. What about the Spanish who invaded Mexico, murdered the native Incas and Aztecs and stole their land. Someone needs to give Mexico back to its native citizens and deport the Spaniards back to Spain.
by
Gary Denson (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 283 comments)
on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 9:33:36 PM
13 comments
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