BLOGdoc 10 Immigration: The Ultimate Solution January 16, 2008
Along the side of the freeway in San Diego one might see a troubling sight. It is a standard freeway sign, the type with only symbols, no writing. It is not to indicate a curve ahead or a steep hill or a railroad. It is a very clear image of a man and a woman desperately pulling a child behind them. It warns drivers to be especially cautious, to be on the look out for immigrants dashing across the deadly lanes of the freeway.
The sign might have had a deer, but it didn’t. In the driver’s thought was a chilling, academic, legalistic model of border violations and invisible, illegal people seeping into our society. Of course, these people are determined to elude capture and fulfill every tiny aspect of the inflammatory “society wrecking” threats cast out daily on the AM talk shows.
Without exercising some care for one’s thoughts, these border violators could become a secret Red Chinese army camouflaged in civilian clothes. Even the children being dragged behind in the symbol might have some secret military purpose.
At seventy miles an hour it probably took another mile or so before those symbols on the sign began to possibly be a family. A mother and a father with a little daughter.
Too bad. Our driver’s remorse, should he hit them, could have been cool and academic, even sterile, had they remained the symbols on the sign. As actual, living, breathing people, people with names, our driver’s remorse becomes a heavy, tragic perpetual wound in his spirit. Perhaps, in his mind, an undeserved burden.
This necessary plan for immigration is a devilish balance, crafted by a master chess player. There is no direction to move which will not yield sadness and suffering for one side or the other. We may spend a fitful night searching for a bloodless solution, but it will be no more than our inner selves and hopes sinking slowly into a quagmire.
It is a perfected paradox. How harshly will we treat them at the river? How harshly will we treat them as they hide and work so filled with hope in San Diego? On the other hand, how much of our precious prosperity are we willing to forego so they can take our jobs and our social money and the seats in our schools? You know. The schools we paid for with our general fund taxes. Our property taxes. The fund we had to pay our taxes into. Taxes the immigrant cannot pay or won’t pay for reason of fear or necessity or greed.
A paradox such as this one is not inflicted on us by an outside force. It seems to be built into our private ideas. It is spontaneous and inescapable. Interestingly, it travels with these immigrants in just the same cloud of doubts if not intransigence. In the minds and hearts of the blissfully numb in either group it never rises up in thoughts to become words. Its path to a conscious awareness is constantly blocked by other more superficial ideas. Questions.
“Why do they have so much? Why do I have so little?”
“Why have they come here to rob me? To rob my family?”
The prospects of taking or giving seem to conveniently escape the teachings of one’s church or family. This paradox is most comfortably handled in the realm of human adjustments to both taking and giving. We and they pretend that this conflicted dualism is the scourge of others. It falls to them to handle these details.
Yet, even when we imagine this theoretical isolation, we encounter no comfort at all from some solution or alternative. There is no pure moment when we realize just the perfect answer. No moment of clarity. No sudden awareness that reassures us, finally, that we were simply making too hard a task of it all.
Perhaps a very short story can brighten this dreary place.
“Hi! Bill Smith, XYZ news, here in the field on the steps of the Capitol for the big mix-up this morning! Just think. By noon today we will have our new national immigration policy hammered out!
“The Capitol police have separated this incredible crowd into the four groups we have been hearing so much from in the past weeks and months. At exactly nine o’clock this morning all the security staff are going to just pull back, the Marine Honor Guard up there guarding the door will use their bugles to sound the start, and after that, heh heh, this crowd is going to have at it!
“The XYZ News Action helicopter is in its assigned place high above us to get a full view of the action. In fact, there are so many news choppers up there, each one parked in exactly its assigned place, this place looks like Viet Nam!
“In less than two minutes the action here at the Capitol will be starting, and, boy are these crowds ever ready to go to town! Every one of these screaming immigration activists has been searched for any kind of possible weapon and the crowd managers are telling me that they have a liability release form signed and sealed by every one of them.
“The business interest group is over there on the north side. We can see they are pretty well dressed, but don’t be fooled. These guys work out. They’re fit and trim for this get together. My gosh! They are all removing their ties in unison! Things like this make me suspect that these unruly crowds are more organized than they look at first glance.
“Over to my left you can see a mass of blue collar workers, truck drivers and the like who are just plain sick of trying to compete with the wages being paid to illegal immigrants. These are the folks who talk about a “race to the bottom” in wages and benefits. They’re not making any bones, this morning, about being a tough lot with plenty of experience.
“Standing just opposite of them, over to my right, are the immigrants. Jim can you pan over to the right? That’s good. You can see that they have an agenda, too. You can definitely see that they are motivated. These are people who have already taken some big chances, dangerous chances, to get here in hopes of doing better for their families. This crowd may not have had many political ideas when they crossed the border, but they damn sure have some now.
“And just behind the camera is the border safety group. The Capitol police have taken all their weapons, knives, machine guns and RPG’s according to the rules of engagement for this morning’s historical event. The border security bunch wanted to show up flying their flags, but the flag poles were all confiscated. These boys have a lot of members with military experience. Everyone’s expecting them to do really well here this morning.
“There would have been six groups here this morning instead of just the four we see, but the education and humanity groups were meeting in a bar trying to consolidate their position when that fight broke out. Because the rioting over there got so intense, almost none of those groups has been able to make it over here in time for the start of activities. I have heard some talk that they might still show up late, if they can hammer out some kind of agreement between themselves.
“Well, I can see the big clock donated by WalMart. Its about 30 seconds until the fight starts and the Capitol Police are pulling back quickly right now to open up the fight area. The Marines at the door to the Capitol have exchanged their bugles for riot gear and tear gas rifles, and our XYZ camera crew, including yours truly, are getting the signal to “get out of Dodge” on the double.
“The showdown is starting as I speak. Stay tuned to this channel for some exciting full coverage from our XYZ News Chopper! This is Bill Smith, XYZ News, signing off. Now that all this uncontrolled violence has started, it is anyone's guess how this is going to end up at the high noon hour when hostilities will be stopped. Right after the noon chime on this big WalMart clock, all the survivors who can still walk are going to vote on the new immigration bill. Be sure to join us for the post riot recaps!”
Along the side of the freeway in San Diego one might see a troubling sight. It is a standard freeway sign, the type with only symbols, no writing. It is not to indicate a curve ahead or a steep hill or a railroad. It is a very clear image of a man and a woman desperately pulling a child behind them. It warns drivers to be especially cautious, to be on the look out for immigrants dashing across the deadly lanes of the freeway.
The sign might have had a deer, but it didn’t. In the driver’s thought was a chilling, academic, legalistic model of border violations and invisible, illegal people seeping into our society. Of course, these people are determined to elude capture and fulfill every tiny aspect of the inflammatory “society wrecking” threats cast out daily on the AM talk shows.
Without exercising some care for one’s thoughts, these border violators could become a secret Red Chinese army camouflaged in civilian clothes. Even the children being dragged behind in the symbol might have some secret military purpose.
At seventy miles an hour it probably took another mile or so before those symbols on the sign began to possibly be a family. A mother and a father with a little daughter.
Too bad. Our driver’s remorse, should he hit them, could have been cool and academic, even sterile, had they remained the symbols on the sign. As actual, living, breathing people, people with names, our driver’s remorse becomes a heavy, tragic perpetual wound in his spirit. Perhaps, in his mind, an undeserved burden.
This necessary plan for immigration is a devilish balance, crafted by a master chess player. There is no direction to move which will not yield sadness and suffering for one side or the other. We may spend a fitful night searching for a bloodless solution, but it will be no more than our inner selves and hopes sinking slowly into a quagmire.
It is a perfected paradox. How harshly will we treat them at the river? How harshly will we treat them as they hide and work so filled with hope in San Diego? On the other hand, how much of our precious prosperity are we willing to forego so they can take our jobs and our social money and the seats in our schools? You know. The schools we paid for with our general fund taxes. Our property taxes. The fund we had to pay our taxes into. Taxes the immigrant cannot pay or won’t pay for reason of fear or necessity or greed.
A paradox such as this one is not inflicted on us by an outside force. It seems to be built into our private ideas. It is spontaneous and inescapable. Interestingly, it travels with these immigrants in just the same cloud of doubts if not intransigence. In the minds and hearts of the blissfully numb in either group it never rises up in thoughts to become words. Its path to a conscious awareness is constantly blocked by other more superficial ideas. Questions.
“Why do they have so much? Why do I have so little?”
“Why have they come here to rob me? To rob my family?”
The prospects of taking or giving seem to conveniently escape the teachings of one’s church or family. This paradox is most comfortably handled in the realm of human adjustments to both taking and giving. We and they pretend that this conflicted dualism is the scourge of others. It falls to them to handle these details.
Yet, even when we imagine this theoretical isolation, we encounter no comfort at all from some solution or alternative. There is no pure moment when we realize just the perfect answer. No moment of clarity. No sudden awareness that reassures us, finally, that we were simply making too hard a task of it all.
Perhaps a very short story can brighten this dreary place.
“Hi! Bill Smith, XYZ news, here in the field on the steps of the Capitol for the big mix-up this morning! Just think. By noon today we will have our new national immigration policy hammered out!
“The Capitol police have separated this incredible crowd into the four groups we have been hearing so much from in the past weeks and months. At exactly nine o’clock this morning all the security staff are going to just pull back, the Marine Honor Guard up there guarding the door will use their bugles to sound the start, and after that, heh heh, this crowd is going to have at it!
“The XYZ News Action helicopter is in its assigned place high above us to get a full view of the action. In fact, there are so many news choppers up there, each one parked in exactly its assigned place, this place looks like Viet Nam!
“In less than two minutes the action here at the Capitol will be starting, and, boy are these crowds ever ready to go to town! Every one of these screaming immigration activists has been searched for any kind of possible weapon and the crowd managers are telling me that they have a liability release form signed and sealed by every one of them.
“The business interest group is over there on the north side. We can see they are pretty well dressed, but don’t be fooled. These guys work out. They’re fit and trim for this get together. My gosh! They are all removing their ties in unison! Things like this make me suspect that these unruly crowds are more organized than they look at first glance.
“Over to my left you can see a mass of blue collar workers, truck drivers and the like who are just plain sick of trying to compete with the wages being paid to illegal immigrants. These are the folks who talk about a “race to the bottom” in wages and benefits. They’re not making any bones, this morning, about being a tough lot with plenty of experience.
“Standing just opposite of them, over to my right, are the immigrants. Jim can you pan over to the right? That’s good. You can see that they have an agenda, too. You can definitely see that they are motivated. These are people who have already taken some big chances, dangerous chances, to get here in hopes of doing better for their families. This crowd may not have had many political ideas when they crossed the border, but they damn sure have some now.
“And just behind the camera is the border safety group. The Capitol police have taken all their weapons, knives, machine guns and RPG’s according to the rules of engagement for this morning’s historical event. The border security bunch wanted to show up flying their flags, but the flag poles were all confiscated. These boys have a lot of members with military experience. Everyone’s expecting them to do really well here this morning.
“There would have been six groups here this morning instead of just the four we see, but the education and humanity groups were meeting in a bar trying to consolidate their position when that fight broke out. Because the rioting over there got so intense, almost none of those groups has been able to make it over here in time for the start of activities. I have heard some talk that they might still show up late, if they can hammer out some kind of agreement between themselves.
“Well, I can see the big clock donated by WalMart. Its about 30 seconds until the fight starts and the Capitol Police are pulling back quickly right now to open up the fight area. The Marines at the door to the Capitol have exchanged their bugles for riot gear and tear gas rifles, and our XYZ camera crew, including yours truly, are getting the signal to “get out of Dodge” on the double.
“The showdown is starting as I speak. Stay tuned to this channel for some exciting full coverage from our XYZ News Chopper! This is Bill Smith, XYZ News, signing off. Now that all this uncontrolled violence has started, it is anyone's guess how this is going to end up at the high noon hour when hostilities will be stopped. Right after the noon chime on this big WalMart clock, all the survivors who can still walk are going to vote on the new immigration bill. Be sure to join us for the post riot recaps!”
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