The good times are killing me
I've come to the conclusion that I have just been going at this whole war the wrong way. Really, who cares if we blow the legs off a million Iraqi children, especially when they'll probably just grow up to hate our freedom anyway. They're not even people. They're not people in our movies, in our discourse, or even in our minds. Their lives aren
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Okay...now that I've got that off my chest...I'll warn you that the following is a freeflow of emotional thought and may be scattered and long winded.
I agree with some of your opinions. I do feel that Americans as a whole (this is a generalization, folks. In a country this big, either do something to stand out or get the fuck used to it) have been lulled into this sense of oomplacency...however I try to do my part. I show up for the protests, I vote, I call, write, and email my elected "leaders"...but voices of the dissenters among the silence of many are easily ignored and pushed aside. There are some of us, we do what we can. It's not working, because our government can't agree or decide on a damned thing, notwithstanding their inability to listen to the people instead of the lobbyists.
My husband is a Bolivian immigrant. I can't tell you how many hours I logged in the fight for a decision on immigration reform. For what? For my stupid government to basically take the coward's way out and not make a decision one way or another. Now local municipalities have taken it upon themselves to decide (I almost typed "divide." Appropriate, no?) how to handle immigrants, legal or not. I'm frightened for all of them, and feel powerless to do anything about it.
I wish I could say that I love my country. I can't. Not when my government points the finger at other governments (Burma and Sudan come to mind) for crimes against humanity...while they sponsor the same and worse happening in a country that we invaded and still presently occupy.
I wanna see Bush and Cheney shoot themselves in the head in the "Fight against Terrorism" if killing terrorists is truly the only way to deal with them...
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It's funny if you note that the same people who vilify immigrants are the ones who do nothing to close our borders. They use the fear to manipulate the public while doing nothing to stem immigration from mexico allows American corporations to have a cheap work force with no rights to exploit.
Recently we gave illegal immigrants the right to have drivers licenses and I was hearing before this happened that we were going to do so. It's rumored that this is part of a plan to push through the national ID card in a year. Essentially they'll say that since immigrants can get licenses and we need a way to know who is or is not a legal citizen, that we need a national ID card. This will essentially be our "papers" we'll have to carry at all times in the same way they did in Russia and Germany.
Essentially with immigration we do a good job of keeping people out with a legitimate reason for being here while ensuring those who have no intention of entering legally are still more than capable. American companies even advertise in Mexico and truck immigrants north where they are either dropped off at shelters or live on the work site with few amenities and often no way to get back home.
It's great that you're involved, and I appreciate it greatly anyone with more patience or a different approach is working towards the same goals. The more people are spreading truth in their own way the more people we can reach.
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Bolivia already has a national ID, and my husband needed that along with his passport to get a SS# for his work authorization.
Before 9/11, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, it was very easy for an illegal immigrant to get his driver's license. I know several who still have one, and all they have to do is renew it. If it's suspended, or revoked, or anything of that nature, THEN they have to prove legal presence.
Also in VA, there is Prince William County's little move to restrict services to illegals. I understand that the assumption is that they don't pay taxes, however, this is not true. The federal government is all too pleased to accept the monies that illegals give them under a Federal ID number, (which technically isn't supposed to be used on a 1040 income tax return) but villify them, like you said. This money, in turn, might go to these counties where the illegals are contributing to the economy, and providing a cheap labor force, erstwhile helping widen that tax gap between the rich and impoverished. Doesn't change the fact that in PW county, an illegal can't get help if they need therapy or any other sort of rehabilitation. If they go to the ER, they are checked against a database to see if they are illegal or not. Of course, the ACLU is throwing a duckfit, but that could take quite some time to challenge and fight the constitutional (or lack thereof) basis of the law.
My husband tries so hard to keep up with the politics in Bolivia. He is as active as I am, and even more so I might say in his eagerness to gain as much perspective and knowledge on political situations everywhere.
The big thing now, is that Evo is indiginous (I know I misspelled that...in a hurry though) and the small "white" community that held a lot of land rights is pissed because instead of a small group of people holding a lot of land, there are several people holding smaller tracts of land. He also nationalized the gas resources in the country, so that other corporations (like some in America) can stop taking advantage of a VERY poor country. (Bolivia is the poorest country in South America) There is a battle going on to merge the "capitals." One branch of the government is in La Paz, which is in the Andean community, and where a lot of the native peoples reside (also very poor) and the other capital, Sucre, is where a lot of the mestizos (mixed bloods and whites) reside. This is almost becoming a civil war. Then you have Santa Cruz who has the most money, and is the most "Westernized" who want to just succede from Bolivia altogether, because they feel that they are carrying the burden of providing revenue for the whole country, and getting none of it back.
It's SOOOO complicated...I'm sure I didn't even scratch the surface...
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Nationalizing their oil alone has vastly increased the countries revenue. I posted an interview with Evo Morales recently, and I can't remember the exact amounts but I believe revenue from oil tripled after they nationalized.
Oh yeah, the IRS will take your money whether you're a citizen or a drug dealer. Of course it doesn't matter to them whether the person is legal since it is illegal according to the constitution to directly tax labor. Of course there's the law, and there's a lot of heavily armed individuals supporting what they say is the law. The latter usually wins in the end.
What's funny is that the way things are going, in ten to fifteen years we all might be better off in Bolivia.
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I keep telling my husband that...and he disagreed. He says that the government is so corrupt, that people only get elected to help themselves, not the people. Sure, there are a few civic minded people with good intentions elected, but it's not long before they fall under the spell of money...
...I asked him just what he thought the difference was between his government and mine...
Just because we have laws in place to help protect against what is happening in his country, doesn't mean that it's going to stay that way. (i.e. Patriot Act) We're all going to hell in a handbasket...it's just a matter of which government does a better job of decorating it to distract its people.
By the by...it took me so long to reply because I'm in between residences right now. My house will be ready November 1st, and my temporary residence has no internet. So my weekend access is sporadic at best...after thursday, I'll be better.)
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Right now anyway I can only blog from work, so it often takes me days to reply to messages. I use as much of my free time as I can arguing with people who think I'm a nut job, because it's just that fulfilling :P.
Whatever laws that are left to protect us are just one national emergency away from being completely taken away thanks to the martial law legislation that currently exists. It's not even at that point where if we don't do something in the next couple of years we're going to lose our country. We're literally at any given moment an hour or day or week away from becoming a complete military dictatorship.
I guess where you're husband is concerned, I understand his doubt, but basically he's just moved from the destination of the problem to its source.
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