A New Philosophy of Immigration

By Pedro Blas Gonzalez.

Waves of immigration to the United States are always fascinating to observe and analyze. People come to America for diverse reasons. Yet all are seeking a better life. This is a staple of immigration to this country. The turn of the nineteenth century America saw a boom in immigrants from Europe and Asia. That wave of immigration came to an America that was rapidly expanding, thus creating great demand and possibilities for workers who did not fatigue easily.

The immigrants who came during the depression era were also hardy types. These were people who were very content to be in America, despite all of the shortcomings that they endured. We must keep in mind that the Great Depression affected the entire globe. Throughout the Cold War years immigrants fled their native communist countries en masse. This came about as a logical reaction to communism’s well conceived crimes against humanity. The immigrants who came to America from communist nations possessed a first-rate, worldly education of what happens when evil people and the evil principles that they embody become the iron rule of law. Those who were imprisoned, denigrated, accosted and whose dignity was replaced by a rationing-card, can best attest to the value of liberty and why it must be defended. These people’s sense of purpose and gravitas in choosing to come to America served them as the foundation of how they would react and absorb the difficulties they would certainly encounter in their new adopted land.

Unfortunately, this is no longer the case today, for the most part. The patterns displayed by our current wave of immigration are vastly different. Hence, for this reason I find it prudent to ask ourselves, in these technologically challenging and complex economic times, what should immigrants realistically expect in coming to America? This is a relevant and timely question today. I say this because how and what we think will definitely determine how one lives. Our behavior comes about as the direct result of how we view ourselves and the world around us. This truth hardly merits belaboring, for history easily does that for us.

Again, I will insist that this seems like a practical and judicious question. I say this because today there is a push by very influential people who demand that all aspects of private life be turned into fodder for politics. This is the crux of their social/political agenda. If those people get their way in overturning the discretionary tenets of “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, why then should American citizens forgo their right to demand transparency in knowing just who will be living next to us and who will consume our healthcare and educational resources? This seems like is a fair demand to make of our government.

Unfortunately, today many immigrants come to America with a very negative and cynical attitude toward the nation that takes them in. They think of America as an overly pragmatic, informal, lazy society of slackers and welfare recipients. A large percentage of immigrants today come to America with a laundry list of Welfare, Medicaid and Medicare rights to which they think themselves as entitled. Sadly, this attitude plays right into the hands of those detractors of the American way of life who would have us believe that “there are no borders.” I suppose this is the point where I have to mention that the kind of immigrants that I am describing and those Party-minded folks who use them to get votes deserve each other. Imagine asking these denizens of hypocrisy – the users, I mean – to declare their bank accounts open sesame for all to share in the just distribution of their sacred stash?

This suspect attitude makes some people’s initial trek into American culture and society one that is dominated by a cynical predisposition. Remember, what we think determines how we act. Luckily, there are solutions to these problems. In return, American citizens of good will and their elected officials might want to consider asking in earnest two relevant questions of potential immigrants: “Why do you want to come to America?”  As well as, “How can you contribute to the well being of this land?”

Perhaps I can offer several suggestions along this line of thinking. Because post 1960s education has effectively dismantled the teaching of civics in this country, maybe it will be fruitful to turn back the tide by having immigrants learn about the America that is responsible for so much of the wealth that the contemporary world enjoys. For instance, teaching immigrants the biographies of imaginative and self-reliant Americans in history can foster them with a sense of hope. This will also wipe out any cynicism and false impressions that some immigrants may be predisposed to having about America before this destructive attitude poisons their ability to be productive citizens. However, we must not be naïve in this matter. We must not forget that it is not a coincidence that some immigrants feel this way about America. They have received their “education” about contemporary America from her detractors in the media and popular culture. Who knows, after completion of these basic courses, immigrants may in turn teach our “liberated” high school and university graduates valuable history lessons, and how to take pride in what we have created as a people. After all, this is precisely one glaring achievement of the wave of immigrants that came to America from communist countries.

Just like university students used to learn about history from the Great Books Series, our new immigrants can learn about the builders of this nation in courses that can be titled: “Great Men and Women in American History.”  Who can argue with this novel approach?  America is as strong or frail as the citizens who people her, who in turn will become our elected leaders. The completion of these courses should be made mandatory. No immigrant should show up at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services without proof of having completed this very rudimentary education. This will serve as an investment in America, its strength and civility for generations to come. This may even spark the resurgence of a culture that embraces responsibility and duty, and which understands that “rights” do not fall from trees. These courses will also serve our immigrants well by inoculating them against being easily manipulated and poisoned by those who use them as cogs to further their Party-line agenda.

Our newly arrived immigrants can learn about Henry Ford’s toil in the family farm, his 161 U.S. patents and his four-mile walk to church every Sunday. Today immigrants to America have the advantage of reading well illustrated books in the comfort of air-conditioned classrooms and a vast network of public libraries that are funded and maintained with tax payer money. In addition, Walter P. Chrysler’s dream of designing automobiles, while working as a railroad mechanic, might serve some people as a source of inspiration. His biography certainly worked for me. Of equal importance, our immigrants must be exposed to the noble and inspiring life of the American thinker, Eric Hoffer. This American success story was blind from age seven to fifteen and taught himself to read when he regained his sight. Hoffer was a voracious reader who had an encyclopedic mind. You see, his learning came about from the fear of becoming blind once again. His books, like The True Believer, are the signature of a man possessed by the idea of not becoming a burden to others. This tireless autodidact who possessed an iron will worked the fields of Northern California, toiled in construction, and as a longshoreman in San Francisco. My father didn’t write books, like Hoffer, but he worked in the fields of Southern Florida, on many construction sites, and on the waterfront in the Miami River. We must remind ourselves that the dignity that we cultivate from doing honest work always outweighs our calluses and stinging back pain.

Pedro Blas Gonzalez, Ph.D. is a Professor of Philosophy at Barry University.

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