Today - domestically and globally - and for years to come, immigration is and will continue to be the top "geopolitical hot potato" in search of a justifiable solution or dispassionate relief. It will not be easy.
An immigration phenomenon, if we must describe it with just two words or two major components, is dictated by geography and population. These two go together regardless of how we define them in the context of discussing immigration. Geography is territory, population is made up of people. We cannot have one without the other if we were to discuss immigration and the conditions that explain what ails or helps it.
There are many conditions for any country to have an immigration crisis. If we were to get to the point right away, we must accept one clear, indisputable reality. Geography is fixed. Population moves increasingly in number. While we can no longer create new geography, the population increases everyday and, to a certain extent, will do it exponentially.
From ancient times geography was like an empty canvas, population was a dripping can of paint - slowly but surely spreading over every empty unoccupied area. Since geography is fixed while population is a growing entity and no two entities may occupy the same space, established territories set a limit to how far the paint may spread.
That is how the immigration conundrum can be summed up. Let us not rehash, because we can't, how territories were established from the beginning but suffice it to say that we presently have them as they are. Each territory is a country with codified rules and laws and let's assume now that territorial boundaries have been set to where it is today.
These conditions of territorial boundaries with rules and laws that govern them have many ways of being managed. Of course, "managed" is innocently enough the crux of the issues the world faces today.
Before the word immigration was invented the engine that propelled population movement everywhere in the world was naturally driven. Migration was very much in humanity's DNA to move from place to place for many reasons that included the seasons, food availability, shelter, etc. Later, as settlements were established and grew into large concentrations of people, labor became a factor when the hunter/gatherer ratio among the people switched lopsidedly to the development of agriculture. Agriculture became labor intensive as food production increased in priority to support a settled population.
Along with agriculture came the building of living structures. Later to be followed by larger edifices like palaces, fortifications, places of worship and monuments. Labor intensity went far beyond what the existing population can sustain when industries for producing food and other goods became common. Importing workers, either by invitation or force by means of enslavement were the beginnings of immigration. Coerced, forced or induced by whatever means created the earliest form of human trafficking. Human trafficking is not a phenomenon brought on by the U.S. border crisis. There were human traffickers from ancient times and throughout the development of the west, the Caribbean and South American plantation boom for sugar, coffee and other crops.
Slave labor was not solely an American phenomenon that began in the early 1500's but was widespread in all of South America, the Caribbean and as far as Barbados. The Portuguese brought them to Brazil, the Spaniards to places from Columbia to Cuba and a few others, the Dutch to places like Aruba, Curacao, Suriname and others, the British to Barbados, Jamaica, Belize and several more in between. Human traffickers profited from the same conditions then as they had during the unparalleled border crossing that occurred in the U.S. during the period between 2020 to 2024.
To be clear, going back again to an earlier era, slavery in the U.S. gained notoriety for the size and scope of the newly created nation that was becoming and did become a wealthy and powerful nation. Then a civil war broke out that pushed the issue of slavery to the forefront. But it should be well noted that it was America's collective social conscience that pushed for the pivotal reforms that later put into law the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Lest we forget, long before 1964 black Americans like Wilma Rudolph, Jesse Owens, Nat King Cole already gained general public acclaim, just to name a few, as great examples of America's social trajectory towards equal treatment of talent and abilities beyond skin color.
History is what it is. The future now requires that immigration must be managed. Not just in the U.S. but in places like Europe.
Everywhere there is an immigration crisis anthropologists and political scientists recognize what ails and helps both the host country and immigrants.
As first generation immigrants my family and I have a story to share that hopefully will give credence to what I have to say about immigration.
We came to the U.S. forty six years ago. Our two sons were five and six years old, neither spoke English and only the eldest had a kindergarten education before we immigrated. We enrolled them straight into public elementary education. In less time than we expected they were able to keep up with school work and spoke fluent English by the end of the school year.
Both went to college to earn engineering degrees; the eldest graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served in a nuclear submarine after graduation. It was by no means an isolated feat because there were many first generation immigrant children who attained similar levels of achievement under similar circumstances. All went through the same immediate academic immersions without the benefit of bi-lingual education.
I feel that I have a good basis for what I am going to say:
1. Bi-lingual Versus Monolingual Education
Bi-lingual education deters rapid and effective assimilation that only accomplishes prolonged racial disconnection and social maladjustment. The pain and difficulty of immediate immersion in language is more than made up for by the benefits of developing effective social and commercial communication coping skills quickly . Anything that hinders the rapid development in communication with a single language only creates delaying assimilation.
2. Assimilation versus Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is a liberally misguided attempt at helping immigrants to cope more easily into the host society. In reality it accomplishes the opposite. Assimilation is the key to a cohesive and united society while multiculturalism achieves perpetuating the isolation created for the immigrants. Hyphenated designations as in Chinese-Americans, Somali-Americans, etc. do not lead to assimilation; instead, leads to prolonging racial division. The host country, any host country, is best served when immigrants who decide to settle in the new land voluntarily adopt the existing culture and social norms. Otherwise, what is the point of living in the same land together but living separately. Assimilation promotes unity and cohesion; multiculturalism slows adaptation and unity of purpose.
3. Woke-ism is Incongruent with Immigration
Today - domestically and globally - and for years to come, immigration is and will continue to be the top "geopolitical hot potato" in search of a justifiable solution or dispassionate relief. It will not be easy.
An immigration phenomenon, if we must describe it with just two words or two major components, is dictated by geography and population. These two go together regardless of how we define them in the context of discussing immigration. Geography is territory, population is made up of people. We cannot have one without the other if we were to discuss immigration and the conditions that explain what ails or helps it.
There are many conditions for any country to have an immigration crisis. If we were to get to the point right away, we must accept one clear, indisputable reality. Geography is fixed. Population moves increasingly in number. While we can no longer create new geography population increases everyday and, to a certain extent, will do it exponentially.
From ancient times geography was like an empty canvass, population was a dripping can of paint - slowly but surely spreading over every empty unoccupied area. Since geography is fixed while population is a growing entity and no two entities may occupy the same space, established territories set a limit to how far the paint may spread.
That is how the immigration conundrum can be summed up. Let us not rehash, because we can't, how territories were established from the beginning but suffice it to say that we presently have them as they are. Each territory a country with codified rules and laws and let's assume now that territorial boundaries have been set to where it is today.
These conditions of territorial boundaries with rules and laws that govern them have many ways of being managed. Of course, "managed" is innocently enough the crux of the issues the world faces today.
Before the word immigration was invented the engine that propelled population movement everywhere in the world was naturally driven. Migration was very much in humanity's DNA to move from place to place for many reasons that included the seasons, food availability, shelter, etc. Later, as settlements were established and grew into large concentrations of people, labor became a factor when the hunter/gatherer ratio among the people switched lopsidedly to the development of agriculture. Agriculture became labor intensive as food production increased in priority to support a settled population.
Along with agriculture came the building of living structures. Later to be followed by larger edifices like palaces, fortifications, places of worship and monuments. Labor intensity went far beyond what the existing population can sustain. Importing workers, either by invitation or forced by means of enslavement were the beginnings of immigration. Coerced, forced or induced by whatever means created the earliest form of human trafficking. Human trafficking is not a phenomenon brought on by the U.S. border crisis. There were human traffickers from ancient times and throughout the development of the west, the Caribbean and South American plantation boom for sugar, coffee and other crops.
Slave labor was not solely an American phenomenon that began in the early 1500's but was widespread in all of South America, the Caribbean and as far as Barbados. The Portuguese brought them to Brazil, the Spaniards to places from Columbia to Cuba and a few others, the Dutch to places like Aruba, Curacao, Suriname and others, the British to Barbados, Jamaica, Belize and several more in between. Human traffickers profited from the same conditions then as they had during the unparalleled boarder crossing that occurred during the period between 2020 to 2024.
To be clear, going back again to an earlier era, slavery in the U.S. gained notoriety for the size and scope of the newly created nation that was becoming and did become a wealthy and powerful nation. Then a civil war broke out that pushed the issue of slavery to the forefront. But it should be well noted that it was America's collective social conscience that pushed for the pivotal reforms that later put into law the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Lest we forget, long before 1964 black Americans like Wilma Rudolph, Jesse Owens, Nat King Cole already gained general public acclaim, just to name a few, as great examples of America's social trajectory towards equal treatment of talent and abilities beyond skin color.
History is what it is. The future now requires that immigration must be managed. Not just in the U.S. but in places like Europe.
Everywhere there is an immigration crisis anthropologists and political scientists recognize what ails and helps both the host country and immigrants.
As first generation immigrants my family and I have a story to share that hopefully will give credence to what I have to say about immigration.
We came to the U.S. forty six years ago. Our two sons were five and six years old, neither spoke English and only the eldest had a kindergarten education before we immigrated. We enrolled them straight into the public elementary education. In less time than we expected they were able to keep up with school work and spoke English by the end of the school year.
Both went to college to earn engineering degrees; the eldest graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and serve in a nuclear submarine after graduation. It was by no means an isolated feat because there were many first generation immigrant children who attained similar levels of achievement under similar circumstances. All went through the same immediate academic immersions without the benefit of bi-lingual education.
I feel that I have a good basis for what I am going to say:
1. Bi-lingual Versus Monolingual Education
Bi-lingual education deters rapid and effective assimilation that only accomplishes prolonged racial disconnection and social maladjustment. The pain and difficulty of immediate immersion in language is more than made up for by the benefits of developing effective social communication coping skills quickly . Anything that hinders the rapid development in communication with a single language only creates delaying assimilation.
2. Assimilation versus Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is a liberally misguided attempt at helping immigrants to cope more easily into the host society. In reality it accomplishes the opposite. Assimilation is the key to a cohesive and united society while multiculturalism achieves perpetuating the isolation created for the immigrants. Hyphenated designations as in Chinese-Americans, Somali-Americans, etc. do not lead to assimilation; instead, it leads to prolonging racial division. The host country, any host country, is best served when immigrants who decided to settle in the new land voluntarily adopt the existing culture and social norms. Otherwise, what is the point of living in the same land together but living separately. Assimilation promotes unity and cohesion; multi-culturalism slows adaptation and unity of purpose.
3. Woke-ism is Incongruent with Immigration
Fueled by one component of woke-ism that is identity politics in the name of diversity encourages racial division. While diversity cannot and should not be diminished or even denied because culture and language that someone grew up with should be maintained, even cherished, but when someone chooses citizenship of the new adopted country allegiance becomes a priority. That is because allegiance is a unifying condition that defines a country. DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), as prescribed by woke-ism does not unify. It is divisive when decisions are partly, if not wholly, made based on race and gender, guaranteeing equal results to everyone instead of disbursing rewards based on merit. Inclusion is not forced but rather made automatic based on equal opportunity to anyone willing to work and make the proper sacrifices for better results.
All three above are synopsis of what ails and what helps immigration.
We often hear of a country that is host to so many diverse races as a "melting pot". There is a much stronger example of one cohesion that is characterized in the quality of forging a "Damascus Knife".
It is a process done by hammering together two types of steel with differing carbon content. Two pieces of the metal, one harder than the other, are hammered together, 'folded and re-folded' over as many as sixty four times or more until it is completely fused as one under repeated high heat and pressure from repeated pounding. Once tempered and shaped the blade's hardness and ability to keep its edge is unequaled although the swirls created by the two metals are evidently visible. However, it is now one solid blade.
A successfully assimilated country is made strong from a combination of many people and different races fused and tempered together by countless trials, hardship and sacrifices in meeting diverse challenges, until it is one and yet still able to show evidence of the beautiful swirls created not in a melting pot but as in a Damascus knife.
2026 Happy New Year!
Bonne Année! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! La mulți ani! Frohes Neues Jahr (新年快乐) Chúc Mừng Năm Mới
Manigong Bagong Taon
(I can't list all the countries where my blog is read but my greetings extend to all of you)
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