About the Emigration Issue
Nov. 5th, 2004 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baoThis post is in response to this lovely argument.
There is no shame in retreat. If the problem was that one man, or one government administration, was responsible for the mess we're in, then I would insist on staying and fighting for things to change. But when problems are actually the result of a massive societal shift, that's when fighting to change things looks a bit more like trying to battle a tidal wave. Even if you have a power equal or near equal to that of the wave, it's going to be messy for both sides, and definitely will have repercussions for decades and even centuries to come.
So, I don't mind it when people get pissed and say "Well, if you're going to turn tail and run, GET OUT. WE DON'T NEED COWARDS!" Because, to be quite frank, there's a very fine line between being brave and being stupid.
Besides, and this is a point that many people forget, if someone chooses to live in the U.S., they have as much right to choose to live somewhere else. And if they didn't choose to live in the U.S. (i.e., a native-born citizen), what kind of ridiculous argument would give such a person any real responsibility for a country that was imposed upon them by sheer chance? It's right out nonsensical to go around saying "You can't leave this country! You have to stick to it no matter what because you were born within the confines of United States borders!"
In other words, immigrants have the right to change their minds, and native-born citizens have the right to choose.
There is no shame in retreat. If the problem was that one man, or one government administration, was responsible for the mess we're in, then I would insist on staying and fighting for things to change. But when problems are actually the result of a massive societal shift, that's when fighting to change things looks a bit more like trying to battle a tidal wave. Even if you have a power equal or near equal to that of the wave, it's going to be messy for both sides, and definitely will have repercussions for decades and even centuries to come.
So, I don't mind it when people get pissed and say "Well, if you're going to turn tail and run, GET OUT. WE DON'T NEED COWARDS!" Because, to be quite frank, there's a very fine line between being brave and being stupid.
Besides, and this is a point that many people forget, if someone chooses to live in the U.S., they have as much right to choose to live somewhere else. And if they didn't choose to live in the U.S. (i.e., a native-born citizen), what kind of ridiculous argument would give such a person any real responsibility for a country that was imposed upon them by sheer chance? It's right out nonsensical to go around saying "You can't leave this country! You have to stick to it no matter what because you were born within the confines of United States borders!"
In other words, immigrants have the right to change their minds, and native-born citizens have the right to choose.
