Hubris Americana

Hubris isn’t anything that is singular to America. However, the American hubris is different in nature to that found almost anywhere else in the free world. The “American dream” isn’t really unique to America. It is more readily attainable in America, but is a dream shared by all.

Americans demand the right to be free from persecution, yet many feel justified in persecuting others. They put forth many arguments put forward in an attempt to justify this persecution. They are the same arguments that have been put forward since this great country began over 200 years ago to villify certain groups of people. These arguments have been used to oppress and repress peoples and relegate them to a position in our society where we can maintain our superiority. We need the labor these groups bring to fuel our economic growth, yet we hate them because we need them, and because they seem, in our categorical way of seeing foreigners, “so different.”

The current issue of “illegal” immigration is a perfect example of this. In our hubris, Americans have decided some transgressions are more egregious than others. Speeding through a residential neighborhood to get to the grocery store is OK. Leaving ones car in the fire lane while one runs in to grab a few groceries is OK. Crossing an arbitrary border in search of work is a vile transgression worthy of being hunted down, humiliated and deported. Never mind that the transgression is a violation of administrative law and not a felony nor a misdemeanor.

What is the fear of others that drives us to such passionate persecution? Were the Mormons or the Cherokee so evil it was necessary to run them from their homes and force them to march across the country so they could continue to live? Were the Irish all that bad, in the end? What about the Polish or any other eastern European nationality? In retrospect all these groups have brought good to our nation, despite coming in larger numbers than we wanted and none ever really threatened our national well being.

The truth be told, our segregation of peoples during times of immigration leads to more problems than if we just welcomed and accepted them. Gangs and organized crime often grow out of such segregation. Poverty and drug dependence among these groups are, in part, an outgrowth of this segregation. And yet we continue to segregate and discriminate in the name of national security and national “unity.”

In the end, we eventually come to accept these “strangers,” integrate their customs and culture into our own, and claim superiority over the rest of the world for our “melting pot” culture. We took pizza and made it an American staple. Sausages and sauerkraut are common at football game tailgate parties. Tacos and fajitas are now almost more commonly sought than hamburgers.

Many “solutions” have been proposed to rid ourselves of these new “strangers.” The most ridiculous and indicative of American hubris is a wall along our southern border. But those who call for this wall only want it on our souther border because illegal immigration surely has no provenance from a country whose citizens are mostly white and speak English.

A second solution isn’t really a solution at all, but maintenance of the status quo. This means we keep our ridiculous quotas on immigration in place and refuse to recognize the need for labor our economy has. A third solution has been proposed, one that radically changes the way of thinking – open the borders and allow a “free flow” of immigrants on a temporary basis and more orderly basis.

It is this last proposal that has the most chance of effecting any real change on “national security.” An open border policy shouldn’t be interpreted as allowing everyone to cross wherever they want. Instead checkpoints are established where a person can be checked. With computer databases and agreements with friendly countries we can verify a person isn’t a criminal before letting them in to contribute to our growing economy. Criminals and agents from unfriendly countries would be turned away. The only way for them to gain entry for whatever nefarious purpose would be through other, monitorable channels, such as are now used by all. By opening the borders through checkpoints, only criminals would try to cross anywhere other than the checkpoints.

The positive to this plan, other than the obvious benefit to our economy, is that it would reduce human trafficking. Though it would be an exaggeration to label all this trafficking as slave running, that does occur. Illegal human trafficking presents the lecherous with opportunities to abuse and mistreat those whom they are trafficking.

It is time to overcome our hubris and embrace our brothers to the south. We should accept their contributions to our economy, accept their taxes, and accept their food. We should reject the notion they present a danger to our security or our way of life.

Progress?

Siince the beginning of time man has been surrounded by crap. The first big step came with the realization that leaves work better than rocks. That was followed by digging holes in the ground to cover what was left behind. This led to indoor plumbing. However, one has to be trained to use indoor plumbing, and until one is trainable, a diaper is needed.
Diapers used to be cloth, with pins that poked the poor, tired parent who wasn't paying attention or who was struggling to keep things in the general vicinity clean. Not only that, but what was one to do with the dirty diapers? Rnse the diaper in the toilet and heap it with others in a filthy wet pile. After a period of time, the pile of filth moved to the wash machine. Then came the single greatest invention in the history of parenhood - disposable diapers.
Some have determined disposable diapers are not healthy! There are nasty things in the diapers, they say. No S@#%! Disposable diapers are made from things that don't decompose quickly and cause bad things to happen.
The progress made in the last 50 years is in jeopardy because disposable diapers are...disposable. Use the old cotton ones, they say, it is safer and healthier. Has anyone really put some serious thought into that? Festering piles of wet, used diapers in my house are safer than piles of diapers buried in the ground? How do we know all those oil deposits aren't from dinosaur diaper piles? The oil pipes don't get clogged with dino bones. Maybe 15 million years from now our disposable diaper dumps will be the oil our progeny live off of.
Diseases used to kill people because they didn't have good hygene. They would s#$% where they ate, so to speak. Then came indoor plumbing and waste treatment and diseases reduced. Disposable diapers came along, and further reductions. Now we are told disposable diapers are bad. Really? We should replace the festering piles of filth in our homes because some crunchy nut thinks the absorbent material is bad, or the plastic shell has some kind of something that caused cancer in rats when the rats were injected with it.
I think we need a study commissioned by Congress, to establish the health benefits and detriments to disposable diapers. Maybe a bi-partisan commission could interview the folks from Nature Valley to fully understand their claims. After all, who better than the politicians who are experts in s#$%. (Al Gore probably invented s#$%!) The CDC could be contacted for their opinion. Then we could be informed with substantiated evidence on the best course of action.