Phil Cook nous apporta ses lumieres en ce 2008/01/04 04:56:
> And lo on Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:23:11 -0000, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> 
> did spake, saying:
> 
>> Warp wrote:
>>> Tim Cook <z99### [at] bellsouthnet> wrote:
>>>> "ho hum, I don't really like these immigrants, they're taking our 
>>>> jobs and diluting our culture the way cultures have been being 
>>>> diluted and turned into what are really other cultures since forever"
>>>    Btw, I find this cliche quite curious, given that the real problem is
>>> more or less the exact opposite.
>>
>> I expect immigration in earlier decades in the USA differ from modern 
>> immigration in Europe (and possibly the USA).
>>
>> Earlier generations in the USA wanted to be Americans, not Irish or 
>> Germans or whatever living in America. Both my sets of grandparents 
>> refused to teach their children (my parents) their native languages, 
>> as they wanted the kids to learn English well so as to better 
>> integrate, for example.
>>
>> Nowadays, the Mexican immigrants around here (20 miles north of 
>> Mexico)   want their kids to learn English, and the prejudiced fools 
>> who think Mexicans can't learn try to pass laws making it required to 
>> teach school classes in spanish.
> 
> Here in the UK we provide free language lessons for immigrants and then 
> make sure that all government information is available in English, 
> Polish, Urdu,...
> 
> Trouble is the cost of providing said pamphlets is quite high prompting 
> a lot of tabloids to complain about this waste of taxpayers money 
> (ignoring the fact that a lot of these immigrants are themselves 
> taxpayers too); if they come over here, they write, they should learn 
> the language.
> 
> Then the cost of these free English lessons are released and the very 
> same tabloids then complain about this waste of money.
> 
> Then people are turned away from the lessons because the staff can't 
> cope with the numbers coming in (unless they get more funding) and the 
> tabloids then complain about immigrants who are 'trying to do the right 
> thing' being let down.
> 
> It'd all be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.
> 
Damn if you do, damn if you don't!

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; 
that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Mark Twain

Post a reply to this message