We’re going to look behind the political bullshit at the real underlying foundations, the real stuff.
TV news anchors rant about immigration a lot. Politicians from both sides bemoaning too little or too much immigration in a predictable line-dance. Old dudes at the country club complain about it so often you’ve got to wonder if they notice that the guys carrying their booze to them and preparing their food are, in fact, immigrants.
But we never talk about the real stuff. 21st century America is light on actual truth.
We need a constant flow of immigrants…because we’re fucking lazy.
American assimilation always follows the same pattern. The first-generation immigrant arrives on our rocky shores, dewy-eyed and ambitious, with a determination to succeed and a strong enough work ethic to make it happen. He works hard, he lives frugally, he sends money home and what he doesn’t send home, he saves or spends on mainly useful stuff, other than the little he spends on a mild amount of weekend frivolity. Once he’s saved enough, he sends for his wife to come over and join him. They have kids. Those kids, the second-generation immigrants, are the bridge. They’re fluent in the mother tongue, be it Spanish, Russian or Arabic, as well as English. Since their parents hammered them with Old Country tales and imbued their work ethic on them, those kids work hard, often transitioning from the pure physical labor of their parents into careers with more upward mobility. They tend to make decent money, which they spend more lavishly than their parents, but they also save and dream and plot. They get married and have kids. Those kids, the third-generation immigrants, are Americans.
They’re just as fucking lazy as everyone else.
And that’s why we need immigration.