Comments | silentpalms: We find ourselves surrounded, with this, our happiness.

silentpalms

We find ourselves surrounded, with this, our happiness.

Jun 18, 2006 02:35

A real update, eh? ... Well, you asked for it.

( Ok, so maybe the point is I hate men? I doubt it. This was just kind of a plotbunny that randomly hit me. )

Comments 5

troglodyteking June 25 2006, 20:33:54 UTC

"I see absolutely no reason that they should be illegal in the first place,"

Huh? It is not like they have been particularly targeted and labeled 'illegal', so much as they are not legally sanctioned to be here. They do not fit into the system. You might make all sorts of critiques about the process by which immigrants are legally allowed into the country: favoritism of specific groups over others, stupid impediments, too restrictive quotas, etc. But that does not deny the point that, really, some sort of accounting needs to be done. If you move here, you should pay taxes. If you move here without telling anyone, without going through the usual channels, you are not paying taxes (well, you are paying sales tax and similar, but not income tax). Oh, so they are probably not using a lot of services citizens might use, but they are benefiting from: roads, police (well, sort of - at least to the extent that crime is not worse than it is; there is a generally pretty decent level of civil order), the military that keeps us from being ( ... )

silentpalms July 3 2006, 01:48:05 UTC

But that does not deny the point that, really, some sort of accounting needs to be done. If you move here, you should pay taxes.That's the entire point, I think, that I was going for. It's the exact same issue with prostitution - if you simply outlaw something you don't want to see, that's not going to make it go away. That's just going to keep you from being able to keep track of it. The reason people sneak in is because there are so many opportunities here, and so few where they are ["push and pull factors"]. The only way to really deter people from wanting to come here is to either lessen the opportunities available here - which is probably a less than savory option - or make better conditions where they come from. Which is well, easier said than done. So why not just let them in? Legally ( ... )

troglodyteking July 10 2006, 19:48:34 UTC

"Was I really that bad about getting that point across in my entry?"

The sense I got (which very well could be me perceiving a tone and then not really paying attention beyond that) was that you were saying that it was wrong to feel that non-official immigration should not be allowed, which I disagree with. I guess I got the feeling that you thought restricting immigration was ideologically bad (which I disagree about) rather than just practically bad (which I agree it is). Practically it is just not something that can really be controlled that well, like prostitution, drugs, alcohol, or even rum before the American Revolution (/Rebellion). But it can be controlled in some way. I just don't think going, "Well, hey, we can't do anything about it, so, what the hey, let's just open up the borders and wash our hands of it." is the right perspective.

troglodyteking July 10 2006, 20:00:13 UTC

As for being a country of immigrants ( ... )

troglodyteking June 25 2006, 20:34:12 UTC

Re: bigger groups getting together required for advancing society ( ... )