On a trip in Africa (A Moslem country) I went to American consulate’s Commercial section to get some info and after leaving saw an associate outside the consulate and struck a conversation. As we chatted I noticed a Consul came out to the street (Visa section had closed for the day) and picked people at random from the crowds that were dispersing from the always crowded visa line. By random I mean he pointed his index finger to tall, short, bum, suited, young, old… took them in and within minutes they were marching out ecstatic as they waved their visas and celebrated.
That was a few years back but I’m sure that country was not an exception. With Visa Lottery, legal and illegal immigration like millions from south of the border and many other ways to get into U.S. … one would think handing out visas at random is really not necessary.
I live in Silicon Valley and here like most metropolitan areas in U.S. is a mix of at least 100 nationalities. Mostly Chinese and Indian in my area but we have it all. LA, NY, Seattle, Chicago may have different mixes but the story is the same. U.S. has been experiencing the biggest wave of immigration in its history in the past 20 years (about 65million people or roughly 20% of U.S. population) https://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn/overpopulation/biggest-population-boom-ever.html
This is profound by any measure; economically, politically, socially… and perhaps explains the anger of a significant portion of Americans. May also explain Donald Trump’s poll numbers and the additional frustration they will be feeling once he is a footnote by the time real election comes around.
This latest wave of immigration is different in many ways than the historic pattern where majority were below ‘average’ American in relative and absolute terms. That is no longer the story. A significant percent of immigrants now are more educated, more affluent, more global and more capitalist than the average American; and significantly more so than middle America Americans. The “Rich” visa has increased in number every year and this year’s 50,000 allocation filled in less than 3 months (mostly by Chinese millionaires). These new immigrants do not come here to become “American”. They are not in any rush or obligation to assimilate, and bring all the inbreeding and nepotism of their native lands here. I am not suggesting that the older wave of immigrants were better or more moral, but the “American” framework of operation no longer applies as it once did.
It would be easy to discuss for hours and days the many aspects of this complex issue including the understandable anger of a significant portion of white America and its feeling of cultural and demographic siege. But this massive immigration of past 25 years with its profound impact on all aspects of American life, its key anti-immigrant candidates and leaders, and all the policies in place (enforced or not) have one common denominator: Democrat or Republican administrations and congresses overwhelmingly dominated by White Males.
Footnote: In Iowa the angriest of whites in their anti-immigration, anti-establishment fervor have shot an anti-immigrant sour Cuban with attitude to top of the polls
The amusing thing about Trump is that he is a liberal New Yorker who was a Democrat. But as a real estate guy he saw an upside in this fixer-upper called the Republican Party and jumped right in. He appeals to the old, angry, unaware white males in this country who want simple slogans to complicated global problems.
The longer Trump stays in the race, the more he helps Hilary. And that’s not good because in my opinion, Republicans have a couple of relatively decent candidates in Ohio and New Jersey governors.
Fact: Trump has become most popular since his call for banning muslim immigration into USA.
Reason: Trump is, for whatever reason, only expressing the fears of the vast Majority of Americans, including immigrants like myself of Muslim terrorism. I live in NYC and am indeed worried that the next Muslim terrorist attack would target my neighbourhood . And I was born and raised in Iran as a muslim in a muslim family!
It is ironic though, those who criticize trump the loudest, like the first commenter on this blog before me, are the ones who spend endless hours on internet spreading the message of hate against jews. The very core message of hate which has unified all these muslim terrorist scums who'd normaly be killing each other as they do currently in syria , against western liberal and democratic values.
Dear Faramarz, Trump is an opportunist and unfortunately Hillary the beneficiary as you point out.
Dear hamal, I agree on the fear factor. However, on the Islamophobia or for that matter Jewophobia, I fundamentally disagree. Millions were not radicalized before the Slimic republic ushered in with undisputable direct help of U.S., France, UK…the same is True with Al Quaeda, ISIS, Ekhvan Ol Moslemin (role models of Khomeini)...
By any metric Iraq was a stupid war and opened a can of worms (ISIS core is mostly former Baathist military). Its biggest supporters were the same group that is supporting Trump, and T. Friedman et al, Israel, and yes far right republicans. Overwhelming majority of victims of ISIS are innocent Syrians by the millions. Taking a small intersection of history and pointing at Moslems is a dangerous stand. WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Chechnia...and all major wars and destruction of 20th and 21st century has been initiated by the West to top off 5 centuries of colonialism and dismantling existing cultures and heritage (not unlike what slimic republic has been doing to Iran). What ISIS (and Islamic radicalism) is doing is anti-human, anti-decency, anti-everything sensible; yet it is a direct result and creation of the West by plenty of evidence. But the genie won’t go back in the bottle so easily.
Footnote: Israeli's pretty much invented what ISIS has perfected https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing
Shashoo dear, trump is too dumb to be a solution but he definitly is street smart to be instigator of a solution .
Look, the west so far has fixed all medical & technological needs of the araboislamic middle east thru invention & research . Yet it seems this backward region needs a western fixer for its ethical & philosophical needs too since they are as usual incompetently inactive to fix their own house . The west more & more is coming to the conclusion that the solution for islamic radical menace is shock therapy for the muslim world and dumbass yet opportunist Trump is simply throwing a brick at a muslim glass window to wake the sleeping fkrs up to fix their problem . There will be more of this shock therapy & trump wont be the last one and its upon us born-muslims to fix our ethical handicap .
Meanwhile .Unlike other Muslems, Iranians are lucky with their choice of names::)) and better start naming their newborns with Aryan names such as Camran(cameron), Keyvan(kevin) Cyrus & Darius , Gostham(Gustav), Rostham , vishtasb, faramarz, feranak ..etc . lool:)
Lol Samsam, I think Irani naming has been happening as a way of expressing opposition to slimic republic and avoiding kids getting beaten up at high schools; but now they may have to shave their fashion beard too.
Trump is covered in last paragraph of this blog.
Shock Therapy needs coordination. Once West tries a hard press, Eastern West aka Ruskies and East aka China step in to exploit. Their unwavering support of slimic regime is an example. This whole ME is a puzzle inside a conundrum wrapped in an enigma. It is a tangled web created once we did away with "norms of human conduct". No one has moral high ground.
Ignore this shift and treating Trumpet as a baffoon at your peril. As someone whose natural constituency is to the right of Jenghiz Khan I am alarmed at the racist nature of the change (and how much more corrupt the Right has become since W). Le Pen got 42.5% of the vote. If she had been English and got the same share of the vote in UK she would be forming a majority government.
Faramarz I completely agree. If Trumpet is chosen to run he will gaurantee Billary's success in the elections. For your meriment: Trumpt is a Billary secret agent: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35066940
PS: As much as I don't like Obama I am shocked by the naked hate shown towards him by the conservatives in America and the calls for his death by the same American males you mentioned (just take a look at the commentaries on their FozolBook pages).
Much of the hatered toward Obama is instigated by what Faramarz had called the "insurgent" faction of the nutjob right wing party of the US , AKA Republican or conservatives! However, America is changing whether these Neanderthals like it or not!
Dear fozoli, I agree Trump is not to be ignored because he represents an undercurrent but barring another 911 has no chance of getting elected ala Le Pen and Paris attacks. 2 points from blog are worth reiterating. One is that more than 1/3 of U.S. population are immigrants of the last 40 years or so and majority not white so a far right movement will be extremely dangerous even for whites. Second, this mass migration has been supervised by white male dominated power structure. That tells us the almighty dollar trumps:) other considerations. In other words U.S. is a corporation with global shareholders and needs to operate in an equal opportunity like environment.
Dear Ex_CoP, agree but core of hatred of Obama is racial. Repubs have no economic value to hang their hats on so race, immigration, moslem bashing and abortion is all they got left so for them it is a race to see who is more racist in a politically sellable fashion. There certainly are issues but they don't have anyone qualified to articulate so they become relevant.