(July 8, 2014 at 7:53 am)Luckie Wrote: The system failed the second right wingers didn't get their way and became traitors to their own country and people.
I understand the sentiment, but I can't agree with this primarily since I can replace right with left and nothing changes about the validity of the claim. Political disagreement doesn't make someone a traitor. Let's take immigration as an example.
Comprehensive immigration reform is required. We've known this for more than a decade yet nothing has changed. One side wants to maintain the status quo to avoid addressing the issue and the other side wants to erect an impregnable boundary to avoid addressing the issue. Both are wrong. The problem isn't at the border; the problem is multifaceted and exists within our neighbors' boundaries to the south. Our apathy towards this reality has only made our border situation worse.
The problems:
1. Economic relationship. I don't remember who said it, but the dependence of Latin American economies on ours can be stated like this, "If the American economy sneezes, the Latin American economies catch pneumonia". Our demand for cheap goods on the backs of cheap labor in the south sets up a de facto feudal relationship that stifles economic growth. This creates destitution where the only viable option is to risk life and limb to go where work is available; here.
2. Drug cartels fueled largely by demand north of the border have created regional lawlessness where force reigns supreme. People live everyday with no reasonable assurance of physical safety. This situation is so bad that parents make the decision to send children on a dangerous unaccompanied 1000 mile journey to a strange land in the hope that they can have some semblance of normalcy.
3. The money and power wielded by the cartels have created so much corruption and fear that local governments can do next to nothing to stop the trend.
Both sides of our political divide only want to dump money into managing symptoms of the problems; neither want to actually work to help solve the problems.
