Why do so many of us think the game is stacked against us?

[Sapere aude]

In very rare instances do I see a post here that has hope in it or the belief that we could change the country into the type of place we want to live in. Especially the anti immigrant posts. It's as if the die is cast and the only way to make head way is to turn back rather than go forward.

Couldn't it possibly be that the immigrants could help us form a new majority that has the power to bring about a change toward more social justice or is it just that the game is fixed and it is only a win lose proposition with us losing if immigrants win?


I don't think so. I think the immigration problem can be a win win proposition if we would pull together rather than fight each other. We have so much in common. We all want a better life for ourselves and our families. I don't see why we don't welcome them into our world of working families and unite to form a more powerful political base to fight for the things we all want.


This anti immigration fight is a waste of time and energy. The game is not rigged. We are players and we can deal ourselves a good hand. Wake up and see the possibilities rather than the negative side. We have been down so long I guess we no longer feel we have a role to play in our futures.

[uppityperson]

1. Because it is. But that doesn't mean I am not trying to change it.

I guess you are reading different posts than I am. There is a lot of disgust and dismay, but also a lot of how to change the USA to be a decent country.

[back2basics909]

2. I beleive it us, slightly..

.. more in red states. But that means that every single one of us... needs to step up OUR game.

[Totally Committed]

3. Uh... because it is?

1. Diebold.

2. Voter Disenfranchisement (Jim Crow).

3. Lapdog Press.

4. Largely uninformed and listless electorate.

5. Poor rebuttal to EVERYTHING by our side.

6. Gutless, appeasing House and Senate (for the most part).

7. Corporate money.

8. The Democratic Party penchant for shooting itself in the foot every chance it gets to nominate a real firebrand.

Doesn't look good from where I'm sitting. I cannot say I'm totally positive about the future of this Party.

TC

[WA98296]

7. Pretty much sums it up. Tough to be optimistic given reality.

[RedTail Wolf]

8. Everything you said and a 98% re-elect rate for incumbants,,nt

[tirechewer]

4. I think....

That opinions tend to reflect what people see in the news. Our mainstream news is managed. That's a fact. All of the major news gathering organizations spin the news the way the White House wants it reported. It has a very deleterious effect on people's ability to believe that anything will ever change. It makes people feel powerless, as if they are the only ones holding a dissenting opinion and have no ability to change anything.

Immigration has now been dropped from discussion in Congress. They have put off further debate on the bill, no doubt until the midterms have been completed. Whatever you think of immigrants, and I think as you do that they are a valuable part of this country, they are a huge voting block and they are now good and angry. I think this whole fiasco was staged to help distract from the war in Iraq and the ever eroding economy. It didn't work and it alienated the very people the Republicans hoped to acquire as part of their base.

A brief history of immigration laws in this country. Up until about 1882 there was no regulation of immigrants or immigration. You were allowed to enter the US if you were in good health and able to work. People who were ill were allowed to stay on Ellis Island until they recovered and then they were allowed to enter the US.

The first immigration laws passed set a quota on Chinese immigrants. They were called the "Chinese Exclusion act." and they were the result of racism and resentment of the Chinese trying to emigrate into the US for jobs and better lives. Here is a link if you are interested in the Laws or their history. It is well worth reading.

http://sun.menloschool.org/~mbrody/ushistory/angel/exclusion_act/

The main targets of the new immigration thrust are hispanic immigrants. Does anyone see a pattern here? This has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with racism and trying to set the middle class and the poor against each other for the benefit of the "ruling class" who want to de fang all of us.

We do need to stick together and take our country back. We were all immigrants once, wherever we came from, and we can change this country back into a place which is more familiar than this dictatorship we find ourselves living in now.

[SeaNap05]

5. A brief history in voting in the U.S............

1. Illegal aliens can't vote
2. I was born here and we are not all immigrants
3. " We were all immigrants once, wherever we came from," what does that mean, come on now.


Typical post that calls for harmony but has flawed logic. We want to do what is right but there is a path, let's get it together guys.

[tirechewer]

6. Logic sound ....

There's nothing wrong with the logic of what I wrote.

1. Not all aliens are illegal.

2. I was born here too, but my grandparents came from Scotland and Germany and each group went through it's time of intolerance and prejudice from other people whose ancestors had started as immigrants. Unless you're a Native American, you might want to rethink number 2.

3. See number two. I believe it answers both statements.


Response to typical reply which was not well thought out. Thinking is a virtue. Harmony is not bad. It takes more character to try to understand difference than it does to condemn it with knee jerk intolerance.

There. You've even made a Quaker testy. It must be a gift, like simply appearing in the US without ancestors who came from some where else.