That's a phrase that comes to us from any number of sources but my favourite source will always be an old buddy of mine, John Knight from San Jose. John and I worked together during my California Year, after I returned from a 3 year stint in Egypt. John was a lonely guy, a Vietnam Vet and just down on his luck and didn't really give damn about much. You couldn't threaten him, not because of his size...big...but because of his attitude. John's answer to any confrontation was always, "What'cha gonna do?". The lengthened version of John's mantra, when faced with authoritarian ire was "What'cha gonna do, send me to Vietnam?", and showed a level of carelessness (as in without a care) that served him well.
What brought John's mantra to mind today, (I haven't talked to John since just after the Loma Prieta quake of '89) was all the bitching and moaning about the illegal immigrant issue right now. All the yelling, punditry, harangues and general mobbish distemper on the subject by everyone from the Left, Right and even "libertarian-ish" camps really made me want to ask them, "What'cha gonna do?"
What's your solution? I sure as hell don't have one and frankly I don't care a whole lot, one way or another. I've glanced at a number of blogs from all over the political spectrum and seen a ton of ranting, but very few present reality based solutions. When I looked in on a couple of message boards it was much worse, pandemonium and lunacy reigned supreme. Again...no solutions. The news, "experts" and politicians? Nope. Nothing there, either.
So, what'cha gonna do? We could follow the plan passed by the House that will make felons of all the illegal immigrants. But then what? Where are you gonna store 11 million felons, huh? Our Statist prison system is already overfilled with our own citizens. I guess we could start shipping them out to foreign countries and using their prisons to store them, like we've done with more than a few "terrorists". Will this new "get tough" measure result in, yet another "War On..."?
We could do as the Senate wishes and El Presidente' wants and make them all "legal" immigrants with the stroke of a pen. Of course then you have to ask yourself if this sets a precedent concerning other laws that millions have already broken and been imprisoned for. If we are, as certain pontificators incessantly remind us, a nation of laws then what message does this send? Maybe we should free all non-violent felons and counter-economic entrepreneurs from their current states of imprisonment? Perhaps we could offer mass amnesty for all crimes? The principle is the same.
Maybe we can do as the rabid anti-immigrationists wish and just round them all up and send them home or imprison them, or perhaps "we" can seize and sell their property and confiscate their "ill gotten money" to fund the operation? My question to these lunatics is simple. Who's going to do it? If there are at least 11 million illegal immigrants in this country then who is equipped to take on this Brobdignagian task? The US Army, National Guard and Marines? I don't think so, bubba. There are about 1.8 million active duty military in the US arsenal, most of them in support roles and about 860,000 in various Reserves (half of these are in the Guard). 11 million people, (that's the low end of the guesstimates) are the equivalent of about 733 Military Divisions of 15,000 each. While I'd like all of our troops to come back to the US, I do not want them back under these circumstances. Ever. Any attempt to utilise the military in such a manner would destroy this country, both figuratively and literally.
Police forces from the State, counties and cities certainly cannot attempt this and shouldn't. We would almost certainly be looking at open warfare in our streets and there would be no winners, especially the cops. No matter what the various opinions on the matter are the facts speak for themselves. With 11 million people already here....they are here to stay. That's just reality, folks. The politicians are going to talk and do the hustle and in the end, nothing will be done. And that suits me and many other people just fine. Reality is a bitch and she will never be denied, no matter how much the monomaniacal anti-immigrationists and their buddies wish it.
Are illegal aliens a drain on the Statist welfare system? Possibly, altho I have seen mostly anecdotal evidence to support that and government figures. If that is the case then we need to address the welfare system rather than the migrant labour issue. If the migrant labourers are "taking jobs from (North) Americans then we need to address relevant issues, such as bringing down the cost of living in order to make it easier for people to survive on lower wage jobs and bringing down the cost of doing business so businesses can hire people who may charge more for their services. Ending the horror of the welfare state would be a good thing for all parties.
In the end, it's not about the "illegals" or any of the myriad issues surrounding them. It's about us, our country and the government and its bureaucrats that we have to deal with. 11 million productive people who do not wish to be moved...will not be moved. Unless the rant and roll crowd plan to take matters into their own hands nothing is going to happen, regardless of how many press conferences the Powers That Be hold, how many letters to the editors get written or what you and your buddies at the VFW decide to do come election day.
You folks have already managed to foist off REAL ID Act on us, in the name of illegal immigration and the War on Terror. Unless you wish to live in a country where troops are stationed on every corner and Homeland Security Police can enter your home or business on a whim and force you to prove who you are, then you need to get used to the migrant workers who are here and find a realistic and sane solution to border control. Throwing this country into a state of chaos and eroding our Liberty to a nub is unacceptable to me and many others who live in a reality based world. In the end it boils down to the mantra....
What'cha gonna do?
Technorati Tags:
Immigration, Libertarian, Politics
2 comments:
Not that this is new information to anyone familiar with my approach, but as someone I think will become a good friend recently remarked to me, herding kids and tending to one's homestead are my top priorities in answering that question. Implicit in those two things are a wide range of possible pro-freedom pursuits. The one I'm enjoying the most at present is ignoring the state's diktats as much as possible. Not only will that help crumble the empire, it warms my heart.
And that's the only solution I see, as well. Most of the problems associated with this issue are a direct result of the State interfering with things. My fear is that the government will, as usual interfere with things and make any problems that might exist infinitely worse. They've already used this issue to give us REAL ID.
Herding kids and tending the homestead are the best way to beat the beast.
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