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Just a step below all those other euphemism-slinging morons calling
them "undocumented immigrants." To be undocumented is to be illegal, therefore they are illegal immigrants, no matter if their documents have expired or they never had them in the first place. Where's the disconnect?
posted by
saul_relative
on June 21, 2007 at 12:24 PM
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Political Correctness Will Eventually Cause Me To Have An Aneurysm
Haven't you heard? Harry Reid has a new nomenclature for illegals -- "undocumented" Americans. joab
posted by
joab1
on June 19, 2007 at 5:50 AM
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Say what you mean; mean what you say. Just don't go out of your way to
hurt people. That's my motto. But I don't believe in censorship, Troosha, and that is all PC really is.
posted by
saul_relative
on May 18, 2007 at 1:39 PM
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Saul
PCism drives me nuts and this is just another ridiculous example - particularly, as you said, because why sugar coat the term for someone who is blatantly breaking the law. Hellooooo people.....everyone get a grip.
posted by
Troosha
on May 18, 2007 at 12:24 PM
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And you're right, Camaraeye. America, if history is a good indicator, will
succumb to its political inefficiencies, its laissez-faire attitude toward immigration and the infrastructure, and the political and military pressures from without. Every great empire in history has went this way (unless it was simply eliminated by invasion).
posted by
saul_relative
on May 15, 2007 at 11:46 PM
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saul relative
You make a great point in understanding the threat or "over indulging in the immigration problem." We have a major problem in providing services for these people. The tax base is really stressed and the health problems brought to this country are frightening. Tuberculosis is now present among us, and lice, Unkept bodies produce other diseases and our social services/health departments are burdened!
We need leadership and statemenship in our government..but it seems..political correctness has centered itself over these government leaders who are afraid to be unpopular. Where or where are the Abe Lincolns and Harry Trumans?
Just my thought
Lou
posted by
Cameraeye
on May 15, 2007 at 9:56 PM
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Ah, you Canadians. Having the manners to return home...
posted by
saul_relative
on May 14, 2007 at 9:23 PM
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saul relative
I love going south of the border, 'cuz
I love feeling like an alien, it's like getting ready to move back to the planet I came from. lol
posted by
WileyJohn
on May 14, 2007 at 6:30 PM
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I would have to agree, Nautikos, that quite a few of our new immigrants
are here thanks to the blatant encouragement of the Fox's government. That our politicians stand idly by and allow this merely shows that they only care about perpetuating their own careers and do not understand or want to understand the flow of history. If new immigrants (that includes illegals and non-illegals) come into this country without being assimilated into the common culture (which many of them are not), you set up small and large enclaves of extranationals or new citizens without a commonality with the prevalent social structure. Before long, you have civil strife. If the numbers are large enough (and the numbers are getting larger every year by the hundreds of thousands), the immigrants become empowered by the shere weight of numbers. We are courting just such a problem now, with entire towns and sections of cities completely dominated by a culture that has not assimilated into the mainstream American culture. And unlike many of the older generations of Europeans and Asians, many within the hispanic communities aren't even bothering to assimilate simply because 1)they aren't pressured by social necessity (there are so many of them) and 2) there isn't any laws that make it necessary. I see trouble ahead...
posted by
saul_relative
on May 13, 2007 at 10:01 AM
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PC is sterile censorship, mysteria...
posted by
saul_relative
on May 13, 2007 at 9:47 AM
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Make one up, Rumored. That way, if it catches on, you'll really have the
last l
augh (and make a penny or two)...
posted by
saul_relative
on May 13, 2007 at 9:46 AM
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saul
of course you're correct. I have gone a step further, however: partly because of the documented if 'unofficial' encouragement by Mexican authorities for their citizens to enter the US illegally, I have long since termed it an 'invasion', and in my book the illegal aliens are 'invaders'...
posted by
Nautikos
on May 12, 2007 at 7:48 PM
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"PC" is maddening!
posted by
mysteria
on May 12, 2007 at 5:33 PM
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saul, I heard this same comment and just shook my anyeurism, er, head in
disgust...some day I am going to post one of the old fairy tales in "politically correct" mode...
..or make one up...
posted by
Rumor
on May 12, 2007 at 5:27 PM
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If we lived in an optimal social system, I would agree, Dylan. But we live
in an imperfect social system. And "people who are in this country illegally" do not have the right to the public systems set up through the dollars collected from the American taxpayers, since those public systems aren't universal, even to Americans. Aliens who are here illegally are protected by the universal rights of man, but are still bound by the laws of the nations in which they live. Either deport them, give them amnesty, or partial amnesty, but 20 million people (the worst-case estimate) in this country illegally are a drain on the taxpayer and the social systems of this country, a boon only to big business and politicians (sometimes the same thing). At least, if they were given amnesty or partial amnesty, the no longer
illegal immigrants would pay taxes, which would be matched by their employers, which helps support the social programs.
posted by
saul_relative
on May 12, 2007 at 10:17 AM
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The problem with expressions like "these people"...
...as well as "illegal aliens" is that these expressions tend to degrade their targets, derogating them rather than simply describing them. There is no such thing as an illegal person.
The most accurate description may not be concise, sound-byte ready: "people in this country illegally" is better because it describes their status, rather than their personhood, as illegal.
It is fine to require legal channels of entry, and penalize those who evade them. But at the same time we need to avoid derogatory expressions that imply their targets lack the rights of persons. Derogatory expressions lead to harmful policies, that is policies that harm people who are already vulnerable -- people working for low wages in dangerous jobs and largely outside the protections of the law.
When I hear "illegal alien" in the context of discussions about social services, for example, I hear this attitude (unstated): "These people do not deserve the same rights as native-born Americans." Optimally, everyone working in this country should have access to public services, whatever their nationality.
posted by
Dyl_Pickle
on May 11, 2007 at 11:11 PM
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It's usually lethal, TAPS, so I would hope for a quick one...
posted by
saul_relative
on May 11, 2007 at 9:19 AM
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Saul_relative
Well to be honest, it sounds like it would hurt.
posted by
TAPS.
on May 10, 2007 at 11:38 PM
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How about causing an unfortunate breach in the arterial wall within the
prefrontal cortex? Sound better? LOL> Thanks, TAPS.
posted by
saul_relative
on May 10, 2007 at 11:32 PM
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Saul_relative
I know that political correctness stuff is maddening sometimes, but please don't rupture an aneurysm over it.
posted by
TAPS.
on May 10, 2007 at 11:26 PM
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Agreed, food4thought. I understand why and how they do it and I can't say
that I blame any of them for trying to obtain better lives for themselves and their families. However, crossing that border is like invading my home without permission. It's criminal trespass. It's just like having a nice home with amenities and a fully stocked refrigerator and pantry -- and the next-door neighbors just come in whenever they want (the security alarm works, but no one enforces the trespass law) and take whatever they please, then dare me to say anything to them. It's ridiculous.
posted by
saul_relative
on May 10, 2007 at 11:24 PM
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So why is it...
We are afraid to hurt the illegal immigrant's feelings? It's not like they try to understand English anyway. They don't seem to be too apologetic for hurting the feelings of the citizens of the U.S. by stealing into our country and sopping up benefits.
posted by
food4thought
on May 10, 2007 at 11:13 PM
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Thank you, tamlet.
posted by
saul_relative
on May 10, 2007 at 8:48 AM
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There you have it, afzal.
posted by
saul_relative
on May 10, 2007 at 8:47 AM
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Lol..
posted by
tamlet
on May 10, 2007 at 1:17 AM
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What is in a name , the rose would still smell sweeter by any
other name.
posted by
afzal50
on May 10, 2007 at 12:28 AM
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