A reader writes a comment that deserves front and center attention
John Bolton is a frequent commenter here and I like the way he thinks - and writes. A couple of days ago I posted about Lawrence Auster's wonderful post about this asinine "nation of immigrants" meme. Today John weighed in and added some additional insight that deserves an above-the-fold treatment:
While admittedly and unfortunately broader than it was prior to Teddy Kennedy's first foray into screwing up our nation and its culture via immigration "reform," we do have a national identity. If we sit still for our leaders broadening it further - to actually attempt to create a "nation of immigrants" - by again creating an amnesty magnet for even more illegal aliens, then our nation will almost surely dissipate during Katie's lifetime. I cannot think of a more offensive end to the brilliant creation of my ancestors than it's simply wasting away. But that's what we'll have if we continue to allow ourselves to be bound by a "make-believe tradition."
Thanks for the clarity John.
Technorati tags: nation of immigrants
Auster's critique is perceptive and succeeds in drawing out some nasty implications of the 'nation of immigrants' oxymoron. One might add that it means something further, and altogether self-contradictory: that it can be our identity to have no identity. The nation must mean something, though; and what it cannot mean less than, is that we owe loyalty to our fellow national when he is attacked by foreigners here.It is no secret that I loathe both the phrase and the concepts inherent in "a nation of immigrants." I find it offensive on so many levels that I often cannot think clearly when trying to write about it. John's right. The concepts "nation" and "immigrant" are mutually exclusive. Placing them together constructs an oxymoron; some may have to read the definitions of the two words to get it, but believe me, it is so.
The 'nation of immigrants' premise denies precisely this fundament of nationhood; it implies that our loyalty should actually be to the foreign aggressor here!
Is it any surprise, then, that the effrontery of the foreign aggressors here is continually, almost daily, growing more bold? To give out signals of appeasement, such as saying 'we're all immigrants here' as if no one had the right to put down an invasion, can only be motivated by a passion for internal war and the power that can multiply from this.
Another gross irrationality of the 'nation of immigrants' lie, is that it propounds a tradition, a continuity; of non-continuity, a contradiction-in-terms. This point is explicitly drawn out by political loudspeakers, who appeal to a 'tradition' of mass immigration. The 'debate' is to be bounded by all staying within this make-believe tradition.
Well, no; we're not all going to speak within that context of national dissolution and unreason.
While admittedly and unfortunately broader than it was prior to Teddy Kennedy's first foray into screwing up our nation and its culture via immigration "reform," we do have a national identity. If we sit still for our leaders broadening it further - to actually attempt to create a "nation of immigrants" - by again creating an amnesty magnet for even more illegal aliens, then our nation will almost surely dissipate during Katie's lifetime. I cannot think of a more offensive end to the brilliant creation of my ancestors than it's simply wasting away. But that's what we'll have if we continue to allow ourselves to be bound by a "make-believe tradition."
Thanks for the clarity John.
Technorati tags: nation of immigrants
