Mexifornia: A State of Becoming

Rating:
Summary: Something needs to be said
Review: Most books questioning current U.S. immigration policy seem to break down into two types: rather bald appeals to white racial nationalism, or worse (e.g. those by Patrick Buchanan, et al.); and too-clever ones (e.g., those by Peter Brimelow or George Borjas), that make some valid points, but exhibit an acrid distaste for Mexicans.

This book is entirely different: grounded in experience, free of animus, and able to see things from another's vantage point. It goes without saying that anyone writing honestly on these topics has to endure parrot cries of 'racism!', but then that was to be expected.

The most eye-opening part of the book (for me) was the chapter on the inner world of the illegal migrant. Few native-born Americans can conceive of the sort of poverty that impels anyone of industry and spirit to leave their home in Mexico. These folk, almost entirely mestizo or 'Indio', are considered dispensible by the ruling strata of Mexican society--themselves almost entirely descended from Europeans. (Amusingly, Professor Hanson mentions talking with Mexican officials who snicker about dumping their peasant bumpkins into the U.S., only to lapse into silence when Hanson points out that joke is on them--they are losing some of their most capable and hard-working citizens.) Upon arriving in the U.S., migrants are astounded not only at the money they can make, but at the fact that stylish clothes, indoor plumbing, appliances, vehicles, and electronic doodads are within the reach of all. But within a few years, the light begins to dawn: this is as far as they can go. Sooner or later, knees, back, and sheer physical stamina will begin to give out. If married and with school-aged children, then the migrant finds the world turning topsy-turvy. His children know more about the world they are living in than he does. His teenaged daughter, if her English skills are good, finds herself working in 'pink-collar' jobs that are easier and better paying than anything her parents can do. Their sons are at risk for all of the vices of American society, drugs and alcohol especially. Little wonder that the migrant finds himself in a winter of discontent.

While there are no easy or magic answers, I agree with Hanson that the continuing flow of migrants from Mexico (legal and otherwise) must be cut off. Otherwise it will be impossible to increase the wages and opportunities of those already here. It will also be difficult to make them fully participating members of American society instead of living in a weird twilight, neither U.S. citizens, nor Mexicans. Finally, the Mexican government will never be induced to spend money to bring the bulk of it's subjects up to a decent standard of living unless the United States stops serving as a "safety valve".

An honest and intelligent national discussion of measured and effective policies--free from the usual falsehoods and evasions--had better start soon. Otherwise, if there is a successful terrorist attack in the U.S. with smuggled nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons (especially if they were smuggled in via Mexico), the result will be panic, instantly shutting U.S. borders tighter than a mouse's bunghole to everything and everyone going either way. In other words, the worst of all possible worlds for all.

Rating:
Summary: A balanced look at a problem out of control
Review: It's about time someone write about the growing problem in California, especially Southern California. Most people who call this text or others like it racist are dead wrong. Racism, like communism before it, is a red-herring. I grew up in Southern California. Drive through East Los Angeles and tell me how you feel when you see the Mexican Flag flying high. It makes you wonder if many Hispanics have an agenda. In Santa Ana the common language is Spanish. Assimilation into American life is obviously not working. This text raises honest concerns. A book to accompany this would be Alien Nation by Peter Brimelow. As a side note Mexicans didn't exist until the Spanish colonized the "New World". Spanish was brought to the Americas by Spaniards. It never existed in the "New World" before their arrival. It's as foreign as it can get.