I have nothing against the Muslim faith or those that want to assimilate to our culture.
We have the world’s most powerful economy, an incredible standard of living, and have been the epicenter of the industrial through automobile through space through computing through AI revolution precisely because of the intentionally-limited government and maximum emphasis on individual freedoms and market-driven innovation. As a result of our success and the values we’ve created, people here are kind, generous and trusting to a fault. We respect hard work and innovation, and frown on bribery and corruption. Like most people I know, I have always grown up agreeing that if somebody wants to move here because they admire our way of living and want to join so they can make the most of themselves and want their children to have lives like ours, then those are the people we want to join us when we permit people to join us.
More recently, though, it seems like we are being asked to move over and make room for pockets of the rest of the world to bring their culture and norms without any intention of assimilating. This concerns me because you can’t walk around like a typical good-natured American treating everybody in good faith, when an increasing percentage of the people around you come from a place where they weren’t raised with that same values and mindset or appreciation for what made us so successful, and will take advantage of you or expect you to participate in their corruption (see “Mafia, the”).
For anyone who’s ever spent time in parts of the world where bribery and corruption are the norm, you probably agree it was a shock when it first sank in that people don’t always have certain ethical standards we take for granted. I had a former employer that mandated training to any employees who traveled to a list of countries, warning us about the difference in acceptable business practices, and specifically priming us to be bribe-resistant. This is a real concern, not something hatefully made up. I love Russian people so much that I married one. I did notice in that culture on the other continent, as a result of decades of communism and their black market economy, bribery has become so normalized that many kids are taught it’s just part of your income. There’s a reason there are no well-known Russian brands of electronics, clothing, or anything else. It’s the same reason why people at every layer of their government siphon off wealth into their personal pockets and everyone else looks the other way (because they’re doing the same thing and their own role). I’m concerned about people with this or other harmful mindsets entering our country en mass, in clumps without being selected by us as a good fit (or in smaller numbers, as a charity act for a limited number of well-screened individuals from the most oppressed situations - as we’ve always done.)
Is it not up to the citizens of a country to determine who to invite, how many, and for what reasons? Do we not have the right to control our own destiny and continue building ontop of our great multi-generational culture?
It perplexes me more people aren’t alarmed at this illogical shift in mindset that we are supposed to have towards immigration - it’s hard not to conclude such a mindset originates and is perpetuated by those who really hate what we’ve become (cough cough Soros cough).
