Humans are a greedy bunch...

I believe that one trait that most, if not all, human beings share is a propensity toward greed.  Capitalism attempts to harness greed and use it to benefit society as a whole.  The United States of America has been one of the most successful capitalistic societies in the history of the world.  Work hard, achieve success in business, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.  The problem that arises is what to do with that part of the society that does not, for one reason or another, achieve financial success. 

It is a problem that grows ever more serious as the economy becomes more complicated and the country fills up with people.  In nineteenth century America, an able bodied man either worked or starved and the ambitious followed Horace Greely's advice to Go West!  Land was available for the taking and much of the challenge in the work place was physical.  The society welcomed European immigrants and questions about someone's legal status were few and far between.  Racial issues were plentiful and people of color were discriminated against in all sectors of society.  The so-called "Robber Barons" were the equivalent of today's Wall Street moguls.

During the beginning of the twentieth century, America's agricultural society transformed itself into an industrial society and the population moved into the cities to be close to the new workplace.  The mass of humanity living in the country at that time gave up the farm for the factory.  "Big Business" and "The Unions" dominated the discussion and shaped the new economy.  Toward the end of that century the economy was further transformed and we began talking of the "Global Economy."  America, overnight, exported both it's manufacturing capability and it's blue collar jobs to Asia and much of our economy became service oriented.  We began to have serious economic and social problems as we simultaneously attempted to find our way in the so-called Information Age.

America has always been a magnet for the less well-off in this world, but for a variety of reasons the inbound flow of immigration has intensified in recent years and much of it has been illegal.  The Statue of Liberty still welcomes immigrants, but many in America do not.  Earlier in our history, America needed population to occupy it's newly won land, first the Louisiana Territory and then the entire West.  Today, many worry about having more mouths to feed at a time when the economy seems to be shrinking.  The problem is further complicated by the very real racial overtones that have always been in the debate.  It is another manifestation of greed, although that is extremely difficult for anyone to admit.

We face another one of those very difficult choices that come along from time to time in the history of nations.  I do not dislike people who look different than I do.  To do so would force me to dislike everybody.  We all look different from one another.  Those that select the color of someone's skin to differentiate between friend and foe are, in my opinion, unintelligent.  Why not the color of their hair or their shoe size?  At the same time I believe that our entire society depends on the sanctity of our legal system.  I also believe that our country is no longer able to support massive immigration if it is to sustain the level of prosperity that we now enjoy (greed again).  For these reasons I support a restructuring of our immigration laws that does not include amnesty, but does include a work permit and I believe that implementation of that law should be blind to race. It should be applied to illegal Swedes and Aussies as well as folks from Guatemala and Haiti.

As for the issue of border control it is not an issue.  The constitution requires that the federal government control the border and protect the country.  The government has not done this in the past and is not doing it now.  I favor electing a government that will do it.

Once we get control of this issue, I argue that we should turn our attention not only to finding ways to improve our own economy, but also how to do a better job of helping folks live a better life in the rest of this world.  If we genuinely did that we could look ourselves in the eye and argue that we were not as greedy as we once were.  I would like to be able to do that.