a real american to me is anyone that lives in the U.S. and is trying to make a life for themselves. I have nothing to do with what my ancestors did and honestly don't even know what they did. All I can account for is myself, and I just deal with the life I was handed in the best way possible. I'm just as much an american as anyone else living in this country... I just hate that we're all represented by an elite group of assholes whose only best interest is themselves. And I hate that people make such a big deal out of heritage and things that your family did in the past. I'm me, I'm an individual and I have no part in anyone's decisions but my own. And as far as being a patriot goes, to me the most patriotic people are the ones that are ready to go against what the goverment says. Blindly following your leaders isn't patriotism, its stupidity. Being patriotic means being ready to put your foot down when you don't agree with what your country is doing.
I think it would be unfair to the american people if we didn't charge a bunch of money for people to come here legally. It's no different than investing in a business. You put out a large capital sum in hopes of a higher net gain. You have to spend a little to make a lot. You spend a few thousand dollars to live (in theory anyway) in a free market economy where the possibilities of making money and a life are endless. The way I see it keeps the rift-raft out. If they can't save and invest a few thousand dollars into a country that has the highest incomes in the world for a new life, then chances are they wouldn't contribute much anyway. How is any different than rent on the place you live. Why should people be able to come here for free and jeopardize those born here and paying taxes their whole life. I am all for immigrants, it's how the country was founded...it's the freeloading illegal immigrants that free school and health care without doing a damn thing except breaking the law and sneak across the border that is (in part) sucking the system dry. Fuck that.
I added a bold world to your comment that made your statement true to me. I agree, I hate the leadership here. It's terrible. Especially the new administration.
I understand that they have to charge something... but at over 6 grand now for my wife's greencard, I think they're taking it a little too far. And they keep raising the fees every year. And you're mistaken in thinking that the U.S. has the highest income in the world... we're not even on the top 10. (Please read this article) And, in theory, you make sense... but in practice, that's not how it works... In real life, people meet, fall in love, and get married, the last thing on their minds is saving up a few grand for citizenship... then you're suddenly swamped in fees with two choices... either A. Go in debt and struggle to pay all the charges, or B. be seperated from your spouse until you can manage to save up the money. I think that's a bit unfair. Its easy to say "yes, the system works and its a nice setup" when you're not dealing with it yourself. As far as people crossing the border, most people don't even realize that most of Mexico is very well off... The way we envision it as Americans is not how the majority of the country is. it also holds most of the worlds genetic diversity animal-wise, more than anywhere in the world. The problem is the northern parts where its filled with ghettos and poverty. Now ask yourself this... if you lived in a shitty poor town where you feared for your life every day and you knew that all you had to do was hop a fence to get away from that and make a better life for yourself, and the only consequence was you being sent back if you're caught, then why the hell would you stay? I know I'd be over that border in a heartbeat. Like I said, its easy to judge and point the finger when you're not in the situation. If you knew some of the shit the people in those towns go through, you'd understand completely. I don't blame them a bit for wanting to get out of there and make a better life. The only thing I hate are the ones that I see being rude to everyone, whistling at girls and talking shit... there's no excuse for that shit. I don't mind anyone coming here, just show some respect for the people around you.
unfortunately I don't agree with your bolded word... I'm sure you can see my stance from my last post.
$6,000 is menial to a lot of small business owners getting hit with new taxes. They pay tens of thousands more now than they did in the past. Why shouldn't the price of immigration rise with inflation? The American citizens are getting hit harder than two people madly in love that wait until they save $6,000. No offense on this, I know your personally dealing with this and I mean no disrespect. Just saying, that the cost of immigration should rise with inflation. We are talking about two separate issues here. First off, hell yeah I would jump that fence and do my best to obtain legal access as soon as I could (after hopping the fence illegally.) But in the meantime I wouldn't expect to be able to get a drivers license, social security card, free health care, or free school for my kids either because those are for qualified american citizens. There is a fine line here. But I shouldn't (or anyone) be liable for other people just because they are born in a shitty country and/or poor...(that included poor americans too)
And when I said wealth in this country...I was talking about the average yearly income. Most countries don't have a middle class. American is majority middle class. As a whole, the dollar is shit and the wealth of America is declining. But the citizens here are very well off as a whole...you took what I said the wrong way or I worded it bad..either way, that wasn't what I meant. You can't tell me the people of communist china are better on the Americans because their gov has more money. I skimmed and read part of that article. It has too much opinion intertwined with the facts...would have been more credible has they not commented on what the facts meant.
if illegal immigrants are getting SS, free healthcare, etc. that's a problem with our system, not with illegal immigrants. Those benefits shouldn't be being handed out if a person doesn't qualify.
all I'm trying to say is that I think most Americans have a skewed view of the world, of our country, and of other countries. Most people in the US believe what we're told and we're sheltered from the rest of the world. If you've ever been out of the country, you'd know that news in a lot of other countries regularly reports on the entire world... here in the US, all we hear about is the US unless something major happens in another country. "World news" in the US is VERY selective. Most Americans just don't understand that the rest of the world is, for the most part, on par with the U.S. and some places are even better. I never said that the people in China were better off than Americans but the people in a lot of countries are. here's a ranking of countries on the happiness of their citizens... the U.S. is actually ranked #23 on the list.
those statistics don't mean shit by the way. Just another way of generalizing a group of people if you ask me. I see what your saying though. I have been out the country several times, but as far as I have seen, America is where it's at. It bothers me that so many people have this America sucks attitude (I am not saying this is you) and presume there is some Utopian Eden somewhere else in the world...after all it is your wife moving here, not the other way around. That says a lot about this country. EDIT: I am not one of the war-mongering-gun-slinging patriot types either. Just a fundamentalist libertarian. (I do love guns though.)
I don't think America sucks, but I do think it has a lot of things that need to be improved, just like any other country. I also don't think that a lot of other countries are "below us" like a lot seem to think. I don't place the U.S. on a pedestal nor do I look down on it... it is what it is. As far as my wife moving here, it was more to do with the fact that I had my own place and she lived with her parents that we're both living here... also the fact that she speaks English and I don't speak Mandarin. We are planning on living together in Taiwan for a few years at some point in time when we can afford to make a move like that. In my experience, both countries have their pros and cons. There are things she likes and hates about the US as well as things I like and hate about Taiwan. Some examples would be the U.S. being a bit more streamlined with legal affairs butTaiwan having better public transportation and healthcare systems. Both have aspects that trump the other. To put it bluntly, neither of us favors one country over the other, its simply a matter of convenience for now.
America is fucking huge though. Like, just a single state, and not even a big one, being several times bigger than my whole country kinda boggles my brain a bit. You sort of don't need any more world, coz you're already taking up a load of it haha. Obviously I know you need perspectives from other places though etc etc The other day my husband and I were out at the coast and overheard an American family (not hard to do, btw ) talking, and the daughter was saying to the mother, "But Muuum, you said everyone here hates Americans!" doh poor kid, lol.
lol for the most part, most intelligent people understand that its the government and not actual Americans that are starting shit. I say MOST people... there are still some that are stupid enough to think that they go door to door and put it to a majority vote before the U.S. goes to war. Everyone I know around the world has no problem with American citizens, just the leadership. Most ignorant Americans are too stupid to save up the money to travel, so at least we have that to be thankful for When I was walking around in Taiwan, I'd always hear the Mandarin word for "American" being mumbled as I went past... especially by little kids. The funniest was when when we went to meet my wife's little sister for lunch (she teaches pre-school) and they picked us up on the bus with all the little kids... lmao... all I could hear was "měiguórén" being whispered and lots of giggling.. I just smiled at them. Then my wife's sister yelled at them and told them to all quiet down. They also did the simultaneous "hi Angel" that kids in school do... obviously not in English, but very amusing. Other than that, I had a couple people ask me if I was British at a couple of shops. They said I didn't look American, whatever that means.
And I'm definitely glad that people of our generation tend to have a little more of a worldly view of things... just like on this forum, I don't look at you guys as American, Norwegian, Mexican, etc. just as people that I know and talk to. Personality is so much more important than nationality or ethnicity or any of that bullshit. There's douchebags all over the world the same as there are cool people all over the world... borders have nothing to do with that.
yay Finland is the 6th happiest place! I think I should comment on the immigrant discussion I seem to have started, what I wanted to state with my comment is that I feel many americans are hiipocritical, whilest their ancestor arrived there no more than a couple hundred years ago, illegally, and instead of cohabitating pretty much did their best at exterminating the native inhabitants, yes few have mixes, but not many as has been said before most native americans now live in reservation isolated from society.... and then they keep nagging at illegal immigrants... I just dont get it... hipocrecy bothers me,
lol @ what this thread has evolved into i find it a bit funny how people get caught up in this nationalism of some kind eg patriotism. i live in estonia and i'm half estonian, but i don't really feel any patriotic emotions whatsoever. yes it is nice to some extent, maybe cheering at a football match but other than that i feel more like as person who was just randomly born in this particular place and it could have been any place in the world and i don't think it matters much. kinda hard to put these emotions into short writing but that's what i feel. and btw i finished the fixxixixy and it looks really frizzy but we're done i have one question about aloe vera gel though. should it be for hair of just the pure body soothing gel will do? i'm not sure about that. anyways found this aloe pura "organic aloe vera gel 99.9%" but no word about hair on the tube o.o
I've only ever used the 99% stuff coz that's all I could be arsed to find in this under-stocked part of the world (tea tree oil is outlawed). It was fine. Can we see pics now please?
my thoughts as well... I honestly don't care who the hell comes to the states.... legally or illegally. BTW, I have no british lineage, so it wasn't my ancestors slaughtering the native americans anyways.
