I was born to 2 baby boomers who got to experience the true "Change" that paved the way for me to be able to succeed in every sense of the word. Since they had virtually done all the work, I was raised thinking that opportunities had just always been available. So naive, innocent, and spoiled spoiled spoiled! I was brought up being told to dream big and to not be afraid of setting goals as opposed to my mother who was part of the "Don't learn too much cuz you're just gonna be a mother and wife someday" generation. She started this revolution of sorts in American culture. She and my dad both continued to move forward by telling my brother and me it was OK to lay my own brick in the road of change for society as we know it. I took American History in high school but it was all about the PAST. "Who cares?" I thought. "Yeah, it sucked back then, but I've got my own goals to look forward too." I was not the only one of my generation to feel this way. Our parents were looking at us like they had done this incredible thing for us (which they had) but since I wasn't around "back then" I didn't appreciate it.
Now we are starting to see the magnitude of their achievements because the reality is that we children of the "boomers" had been complacent. Lacking motivation and the drive to work hard, earn little, LEARN a lot. We just want(ed) to be handed success on a silver platter. Menial labor jobs were pretty much out of the question after the age of 18 if you finished high school. A disappointing number of my generation dropped out of high school because they were itching to be on their own and make their own decisions Our parents had told us we "Could do whatever and succeed" and we heard so much about this "land of opportunity" too. So, with stroked egos and inflated heads we left the nest only to fall flat on our faces. Instead of growing up in the town of Rock Bottom-ville and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps like the generation before us, we had to land ... hard ... maybe a couple times there before we realized work was involved in the dream achieving business.
The fact is, we were born and raised with strength and ability embedded in our DNA. Society had changed for us and we really did have the elusive "American Dream" handed to us on a silver platter. (We just usually tried to pawn that silver platter for money so that we could avoid work for a little longer haha) Most of us cannot relate to honestly having nothing. We can't imagine not being able to drive, go out to eat, or partake in available entertainment. We don't understand what it's like to want to be somewhere so badly, and to get our hands on a piece of the "Happiness" pie, but know full well that we are not welcome and could be forced back to where we came from.
What's the biggest question here, really. We know that illegal immigrants don't come all the way to foreign territory where they are not allowed to be without being more than willing to pull their own weight here. They try to prove that they can really make it worth our while to accept them. Businesses love them because they understand if they don't work they don't get paid. Laziness is not in their vocabulary. In short, they are valuable assets to us. Naturally, they are taking all this risk and working this hard for a reason. They want to work, get paid by American business owners, and then send American money back home. Now the American economy is suffering because there is more money going out than coming in.
Never mind the fact that factories of all sorts are hiring 3rd world countries to work for them and paying them very little LEGALLY. Paying good money for materials to be shipped out, put together, then shipped back on America's dime. But then when illegal immigrants are willing to literally put their lives on the line to come to us, we all of a sudden forget that our own Lady Liberty says, "Bring us your poor, your huddled masses, Yearning to be free." It is so hard to get their papers or work visas or whatever, and they come all the way here but then are not able to get bank accounts, insurance, drivers licenses, social security cards, etc. They find someone to sell a mobile home for cash or rent an apartment with no credit check needed. They have now become targets for greedy American criminals who know these poor people have cash in their homes and can't call the police because they'll get deported. THEN when they try to protect themselves and their families they get labeled as a hostile people. Sounds like some Americans have become a little TOO judgemental.
It seems to me that the best all around solution to this economic dilemma is this: Let them come. If someone WANTS to come to America to better themselves and their families then why not? If their whole purpose for coming here is to take care of their families, isn't that an example we want our children to see? If the problem is them working and then sending our money away then let them bring their families here so that they're not having to send money anywhere. If they do want to send money to their families that wont to come to America then put some sort of tax on that if you have to, but don't make it illegal for them to neglect their own.
Next, pay them what they're worth and give them benefits too. Give them the option of either getting more money in their checks or getting health insurance for themselves and their dependents. If they are able to get insurance then they wouldn't avoid seeing doctors for fear of deportation, and they would be able to work longer. If we took the time to say, "Hey, we value you and accept you and we need you to do us a favor, Spend your money here in this country so that we can continue to offer you and your family the amenities we have available for productive U.S. citizens, OK?" Take the time to teach them how the economy works and what a pivotal role they play as a whole.
There is so much emphasis put on taking leaps as individuals toward success rather than everyone taking baby steps together. Have you ever tried to walk up an endless flight of stairs by yourself? Don't you think it would be easier to climb if you had someone willing to lend you some support in your moments of weakness and vice versa? This is not rocket science. We have become a nation of narrow minded people in a rat race towards an alter to worship the almighty dollar. Concerned with who is going to get there first rather than how many people will get there total. The harder we fight to make money the lower the value of a dollar falls.
It seems to me that Satan himself is holding a wad of cash in his fist like that stuffed rabbit on that pole in dog races. Those dogs run their hearts out and run over anything or anyone in their way trying to get that darn rabbit, but little do they know it won't happen. Coincidence? I don't think so. Money truly is the root of all evil. I am in constant amazement of how God's word speaks to us on so many levels and proves to be true and valid over and over again. I'm comforted by the fact that He knew what trials we would be facing and provided us with an actual operator's manual for reference purposes.
