Granted, I only took a few minutes to jot these thoughts down, but so far they seem to accurately reflect my current perspective on the immigration issue.
The United States of America has an illegal immigration-undocumented worker problem. There are many millions of non-United States citizens roaming inside our nation’s borders. While some are here through valid and legal means, many are here unbeknownst to our government.
On one hand, having 11 - 20 million extra people in the system taxes an infrastructure that is already weak. Schools, hospitals, roads, law enforcement, welfare benefits -- et al -- are being stretched past their limits and the entire country suffers. These non-citizens do not know our inherent law-abiding nature; most U.S. citizens actually respect the law and want law enforcement. WE know that a bribe attempt will get us in more trouble (except in the movies). Many non-U.S. citizens expect police to be violent and corrupt, so are not honest and open about their motives or "rights."
On the other hand, these workers help do the tough, back-breaking labor that is hard to find others to do. Roofing, farming, and landscaping work that simply needs a physical body can find those willing to do these low-paying, laborious jobs. Many new homes are built by undocumented workers. When they buy any product locally, they pay local taxes on that product.
There have been several “comprehensive” immigration proposals in recent years, none of which came close to actually passing. Protecting our borders is one of the preeminent functions of the Federal government yet it is currently failing miserably at this.
What should be done?
1) Most here are undocumented workers. We should first acknowledge that most of the “illegal immigrants” are actually not in the U.S. to immigrate here at all. They are here to earn money and to send that money back to their country of origin, which, for the most part, is Mexico.
Forget all the naysayers who claim that some are simply moving here for a better life. “Some” is correct; a small sum.
2) We should document these visitors who only desire to work, and not immigrate permanently. I believe most will come forward if all we insist on doing is documenting them and being able to contact them.
3) Guest Workers will be allowed to stay for a limited period, say ONE YEAR, and then return to their home country. Just as any guest of a hotel or home is treated, the guest must check out when it’s time. New Guest Workers will take their places. Previous GW’s can re-apply every 3-5 years, depending on how well they follow the rules. If we can keep track of these workers, and they are in this country legitimately, they will more likely play by the rules.
4) Undocumented workers who do not come forward will be forcibly sent to the U.S. border nearest their home country; these negligent workers will be penalized by extending their re-application to return period. This may seem like a massive undertaking but it has to start somewhere. 200 per week; 2000 per month; whatever amount that can be managed. It is time to take deportation seriously. But how is this going to work any differently than it does now? The difference is the following: a) it will benefit the Worker b/c he/she will be legal and legitimate with little effort -- kind of like calling in to file an unemployment claim; b)local law enforcement must be brought into the picture. Currently, local police have a tenuous arrangement with ICE officials (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Once we are on the same page, & we all agree something needs to be done, we can all work together.
5) Border security. As more of our armed service personnel are returning from overseas wars, they will provide border security, both on the North border as well as the South. Protecting our borders was a main purpose for the military (and the government) in the first place so that is where they belong.
6) For those foreign nationals who actually DO want to become citizens of the United States of America, the process should be easier. If a person has a clean criminal record and no history of terrorism, that person should be allowed to start proceedings to become a citizen, and not have to be wealthy to do so. Of course, there should be a valued scale to determine how important it is for you to join us. Those who offer highly valued skills should be given preference as are those who are fleeing from horrendous conditions inflicted by our enemies (Cuba, North Korea, etc.). People who simply try to buy their way in with cash should be automatically set back an extra year. The time expectancy for citizenship should be from 3- 5 years, NO MORE. All applicants must pass a legitimate and patriotic course on American History – not that anti-American crap now taught in schools. America has been an overall force for good, not evil. America has overcome great odds to become one of the most fair and prosperous countries on the planet – regardless what the revisionists want to tell us. Just ask the people fleeing their own countries.
That’s it. What do you think?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Country Mice & City Mice in Modern Politics
Remember the children’s story about the Country Mouse and the City Mouse? I think today’s politics more accurately reflects this story than all the ideological rhetoric one hears. In the old story, the country mouse invites the city mouse to have dinner, but the city mouse is dissatisfied by the meager dish and boring – yet peaceful -- surroundings. The country mouse then visits the city mouse for dinner, and finds wondrous foods, but is attacked at every corner by dangers never seen in the country. The country mouse concludes that it would rather have simple fare, living in safety, than grand fare, living in fear.
Modern day conservatives are “country mice;” they tend to see themselves as pioneers in the wilderness. Being alone, they mostly value neighbors and old-fashioned, reliable family traditions. They would prefer to do things on their own, through their own labor and wits. The biggest obstacles are nature and the oppressive governmental overlords who want to overtax them and take away their freedoms. Local governments tend to be corrupt and vote to allow rich barons to raze the forests to create unwanted urban areas (rich barons who leave them alone are praised because country mice only want to be left alone).
Because they are on their own, country-dwellers need their guns for protection against invaders, passionately believe in the Bill of Rights for protection from the government, and realize that they are tiny, inconsequential fleas when it comes to the Big Bad World, so rely on the Biggest of Protectors, their God. Governmental help is desired only during the most disastrous of times, such as war or famine.
Modern day liberals tend to see the world as does the “town mouse;” they tend to see themselves as living the high life in a diverse yet dangerous and risky world. Being in a place crowded by strangers, they tend to distrust everyone since everyone is potentially trying to get their share of the goodies. They see a world of plenty all around and just want to get their fair share of it, by hook or by crook, and do their best to keep others from getting more than their fair share, since they know that they are in constant competition with their neighbors. The biggest obstacles to the city-dweller are rogue gangs, who threaten their lives, and bigwigs, who come to raze their neighborhoods to the ground to make some new building and eliminate the nooks and crannies where goodies are found. “Freedom” means chaos to the townie. The world has something for everyone and could never in a million years go bare; there are always goodies to acquire as long as the government restricts the bad guys from taking it all.
Because they live in a very dangerous place, city-dwellers need protections most of all. They believe in more-restrictive laws, stronger governments, and the freedom to be dependent because being self-reliant in the city will only get you dead from starvation or dead from the local hoodlums. City-dwellers need 100 times more support from the government to survive peacefully and happily...strike that; make that “to survive happily with great stimulations,” since most city-dwellers have very little peace and learn to love the constant “excitement.”
Aesop’s Fables noted this difference 2500 years ago and it still seems to drive society and politics today. I confess, I am a country mouse at heart, although I very much enjoyed my exciting time in the city during my young adulthood.
Modern day conservatives are “country mice;” they tend to see themselves as pioneers in the wilderness. Being alone, they mostly value neighbors and old-fashioned, reliable family traditions. They would prefer to do things on their own, through their own labor and wits. The biggest obstacles are nature and the oppressive governmental overlords who want to overtax them and take away their freedoms. Local governments tend to be corrupt and vote to allow rich barons to raze the forests to create unwanted urban areas (rich barons who leave them alone are praised because country mice only want to be left alone).
Because they are on their own, country-dwellers need their guns for protection against invaders, passionately believe in the Bill of Rights for protection from the government, and realize that they are tiny, inconsequential fleas when it comes to the Big Bad World, so rely on the Biggest of Protectors, their God. Governmental help is desired only during the most disastrous of times, such as war or famine.
Modern day liberals tend to see the world as does the “town mouse;” they tend to see themselves as living the high life in a diverse yet dangerous and risky world. Being in a place crowded by strangers, they tend to distrust everyone since everyone is potentially trying to get their share of the goodies. They see a world of plenty all around and just want to get their fair share of it, by hook or by crook, and do their best to keep others from getting more than their fair share, since they know that they are in constant competition with their neighbors. The biggest obstacles to the city-dweller are rogue gangs, who threaten their lives, and bigwigs, who come to raze their neighborhoods to the ground to make some new building and eliminate the nooks and crannies where goodies are found. “Freedom” means chaos to the townie. The world has something for everyone and could never in a million years go bare; there are always goodies to acquire as long as the government restricts the bad guys from taking it all.
Because they live in a very dangerous place, city-dwellers need protections most of all. They believe in more-restrictive laws, stronger governments, and the freedom to be dependent because being self-reliant in the city will only get you dead from starvation or dead from the local hoodlums. City-dwellers need 100 times more support from the government to survive peacefully and happily...strike that; make that “to survive happily with great stimulations,” since most city-dwellers have very little peace and learn to love the constant “excitement.”
Aesop’s Fables noted this difference 2500 years ago and it still seems to drive society and politics today. I confess, I am a country mouse at heart, although I very much enjoyed my exciting time in the city during my young adulthood.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
What is Philosophy? (reprised from last semester)
What is philosophy? That is the question.
Some of you have a general idea of what the word "philosophy" means, but most of you don't. The most common usage of the word is probably when someone expresses their “philosophy” of something; e.g. their “philosophy of life,” or their “philosophy of football,” or their “philosophy of using make-up.” This usage, however, does not explain what the concept of “philosophy” actual is. We will unpack the word philosophy here to find out what it really means. Philosophy is more of an activity than a field of study. In the above examples, it kind of means a person’s “conclusions about an issue AND their reasons for believing it to be that way” – so their philosophy of life might be to “take it easy” or “don’t sweat the small stuff” or “just do it,” and they can readily explain to you why they believe these things. But their conclusions, or opinions, do not make it philosophy – their rational attempts to discover their conclusions and opinions DO make it philosophy. So philosophy is more of a systematic approach to finding the truth about something.
“Philosophy” is even more than that; philosophy seeks the ultimate truth about things; it tackles BIG questions. These questions often seem simplistic at first: Why are we doing what we’re doing? What is important to us? What political type of government works best? What do we know? What is real? What's the purpose of living? We automatically tend to answer these questions with responses that we’ve been conditioned to give, such as, “I’m taking this class because it’s required by the school and once I finish school I can get a good job,” or, “Supporting my family is most important,” or “I know what my name is because it’s on my birth certificate,” or “The things around me are real because I can see them.” Philosophy encourages us to go beyond these quick-response answers.
Why do you want a good job? What is a “good” job? One that pays $75,000 per year? What if you hate the job? What if you’re required to work 90 hours per week and be away from home for two weeks out of each month? You might not like these responsibilities even though you are receiving $75k per year. Is it really the good job that you want or is it what the good job will provide for you, namely, an income and job experience? Why do you want money? Is it the money or what money will help you acquire? The point here is that there is more that meets the eye with these questions. Asking why you’re taking this class might seem simple until you really think about it – and that’s what the field of philosophy does – really tries to figure these BIG questions out.
Philosophy asks non-rhetorical questions like these then seeks the truest answer --yet does not rely solely on opinions, tradition, or authority. Philosophy relies on good reasons to support opinions. This is one of the most difficult concepts to grasp when first entering the world of philosophy. When a student makes a statement then I ask, “Yes, but how do you know that?” the student often interprets my question as if it were a statement. The student often thinks that I am saying “You don’t know that” but I am not. I am asking the question “How” do you know something. It’s important in philosophy to know how and why we believe to know things.
Philosophy is the field that questions assumptions people have in order to gain a better understanding of things -- of every thing. Why are you here? How do you know you're here? How do we know when something is true or false? Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you think one action is good and another bad? We try to answer these questions as best as possible.
Other fields teach you facts, histories, routines, and techniques -- established things. Philosophy itself doesn't really do this -- learning the history of philosophy in an academic setting does, but not philosophizing in itself -- it teaches you to question assumed facts, truths, & methods in order to understand the "facts" better.
Philosophy also demands that good reasons be presented for making conclusions. A philosopher asks: How so? Can you prove it? Can you show me? Are you sure? How do you know? And then listens closely to the answer. He or she does not simply accept a "truth" or "fact" except during informal socializing.
Philosophers make some people extremely annoyed and even furious. They make others bored to death. What is "death," by the way? What happens after death? What is "life"? When does life start? How do we know that "time" exists for us to live within? This is what philosophers do, they question everything – but with the purpose of understanding, not just to destroy assumptions. It's a difficult concept for many.
Some of the other issues Philosophy investigates are: What is love? knowledge? justice? morality? beauty? These are all abstract ideas -- beliefs, theories, assumptions -- very general conclusions we assume are real and sometimes true.
Philosophy is an activity, an active process; it asks questions that can't satisfactorily be answered by science or religion. You may ask: What is a Southern Baptist? or What is a Roman Catholic? or What is Atheism? and be able to arrive at a clear answer because those questions pertain to convention or agreed upon terminology. But what is "religion"? What is "God"? What does having a "belief" mean? Knowing the "truth"? These are more difficult topics that philosophy tackles; these are more philosophical questions.
The KEY in Philosophy: support your opinions with defensible statements. Opinions that have more weight to them, because they have more evidence or logical validity, are going to be considered more true than those opinions that cannot hold up to questioning.
So why do we do philosophy? Because it is what we are meant to do; philosophizing is what sets us apart from every other thing on Earth, and ultimately, it makes us happy. "To be happy," or “feeling satisfied,” or “experiencing pleasurable feelings” are often concluded as our ultimate purpose. To think about things; to think about ourselves; to think about others; to think about why we are the way we are; to think about the consequences of our actions and adapt; to think about ideal ways to live; to anticipate what might happen if we did such and such, so not do it if we conclude it would not be good.
Philosophy is all about a process of thinking, a certain manner of thinking, a method of thinking; it helps you think more clearly. It helps you recognize what you value. It helps you to understand yourself and your world better. Philosophy is not an alternative to other fields but can enhance any other field.
=================================================
What questions do philosophers ask" Questions such as these: What is a philosophical question? Is there a purpose to living? Why are we here? What makes something right or wrong? What is real? Is this just an illusion, a dream? Does God exist? How do we know? Why do so many people consider a certain painting beautiful?
These are the types of things philosophy tackles and what a student of philosophy will hope to understand better.
Some of you have a general idea of what the word "philosophy" means, but most of you don't. The most common usage of the word is probably when someone expresses their “philosophy” of something; e.g. their “philosophy of life,” or their “philosophy of football,” or their “philosophy of using make-up.” This usage, however, does not explain what the concept of “philosophy” actual is. We will unpack the word philosophy here to find out what it really means. Philosophy is more of an activity than a field of study. In the above examples, it kind of means a person’s “conclusions about an issue AND their reasons for believing it to be that way” – so their philosophy of life might be to “take it easy” or “don’t sweat the small stuff” or “just do it,” and they can readily explain to you why they believe these things. But their conclusions, or opinions, do not make it philosophy – their rational attempts to discover their conclusions and opinions DO make it philosophy. So philosophy is more of a systematic approach to finding the truth about something.
“Philosophy” is even more than that; philosophy seeks the ultimate truth about things; it tackles BIG questions. These questions often seem simplistic at first: Why are we doing what we’re doing? What is important to us? What political type of government works best? What do we know? What is real? What's the purpose of living? We automatically tend to answer these questions with responses that we’ve been conditioned to give, such as, “I’m taking this class because it’s required by the school and once I finish school I can get a good job,” or, “Supporting my family is most important,” or “I know what my name is because it’s on my birth certificate,” or “The things around me are real because I can see them.” Philosophy encourages us to go beyond these quick-response answers.
Why do you want a good job? What is a “good” job? One that pays $75,000 per year? What if you hate the job? What if you’re required to work 90 hours per week and be away from home for two weeks out of each month? You might not like these responsibilities even though you are receiving $75k per year. Is it really the good job that you want or is it what the good job will provide for you, namely, an income and job experience? Why do you want money? Is it the money or what money will help you acquire? The point here is that there is more that meets the eye with these questions. Asking why you’re taking this class might seem simple until you really think about it – and that’s what the field of philosophy does – really tries to figure these BIG questions out.
Philosophy asks non-rhetorical questions like these then seeks the truest answer --yet does not rely solely on opinions, tradition, or authority. Philosophy relies on good reasons to support opinions. This is one of the most difficult concepts to grasp when first entering the world of philosophy. When a student makes a statement then I ask, “Yes, but how do you know that?” the student often interprets my question as if it were a statement. The student often thinks that I am saying “You don’t know that” but I am not. I am asking the question “How” do you know something. It’s important in philosophy to know how and why we believe to know things.
Philosophy is the field that questions assumptions people have in order to gain a better understanding of things -- of every thing. Why are you here? How do you know you're here? How do we know when something is true or false? Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you think one action is good and another bad? We try to answer these questions as best as possible.
Other fields teach you facts, histories, routines, and techniques -- established things. Philosophy itself doesn't really do this -- learning the history of philosophy in an academic setting does, but not philosophizing in itself -- it teaches you to question assumed facts, truths, & methods in order to understand the "facts" better.
Philosophy also demands that good reasons be presented for making conclusions. A philosopher asks: How so? Can you prove it? Can you show me? Are you sure? How do you know? And then listens closely to the answer. He or she does not simply accept a "truth" or "fact" except during informal socializing.
Philosophers make some people extremely annoyed and even furious. They make others bored to death. What is "death," by the way? What happens after death? What is "life"? When does life start? How do we know that "time" exists for us to live within? This is what philosophers do, they question everything – but with the purpose of understanding, not just to destroy assumptions. It's a difficult concept for many.
Some of the other issues Philosophy investigates are: What is love? knowledge? justice? morality? beauty? These are all abstract ideas -- beliefs, theories, assumptions -- very general conclusions we assume are real and sometimes true.
Philosophy is an activity, an active process; it asks questions that can't satisfactorily be answered by science or religion. You may ask: What is a Southern Baptist? or What is a Roman Catholic? or What is Atheism? and be able to arrive at a clear answer because those questions pertain to convention or agreed upon terminology. But what is "religion"? What is "God"? What does having a "belief" mean? Knowing the "truth"? These are more difficult topics that philosophy tackles; these are more philosophical questions.
The KEY in Philosophy: support your opinions with defensible statements. Opinions that have more weight to them, because they have more evidence or logical validity, are going to be considered more true than those opinions that cannot hold up to questioning.
So why do we do philosophy? Because it is what we are meant to do; philosophizing is what sets us apart from every other thing on Earth, and ultimately, it makes us happy. "To be happy," or “feeling satisfied,” or “experiencing pleasurable feelings” are often concluded as our ultimate purpose. To think about things; to think about ourselves; to think about others; to think about why we are the way we are; to think about the consequences of our actions and adapt; to think about ideal ways to live; to anticipate what might happen if we did such and such, so not do it if we conclude it would not be good.
Philosophy is all about a process of thinking, a certain manner of thinking, a method of thinking; it helps you think more clearly. It helps you recognize what you value. It helps you to understand yourself and your world better. Philosophy is not an alternative to other fields but can enhance any other field.
=================================================
What questions do philosophers ask" Questions such as these: What is a philosophical question? Is there a purpose to living? Why are we here? What makes something right or wrong? What is real? Is this just an illusion, a dream? Does God exist? How do we know? Why do so many people consider a certain painting beautiful?
These are the types of things philosophy tackles and what a student of philosophy will hope to understand better.
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