"Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
news:480fbee1@news.povray.org...
> On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:10:46 -0600, . wrote:
> > "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote

> >> and that if restrictions on immigration that are being proposed were in
> >> place, *we* might not ever have existed (ie, our ancestors might never
> >> have immigrated to the US, met, etc).

> > That's absurd. We also might not have existed if, say, WWI did not take
> > place, among other things. Should we continually create new world wars
> > so people who would not otherwise exist, will exist?

> I'm in the position of being the son of a WWII veteran who was ready to
> be deployed to Japan (dad served in Europe).  If the A-bomb hadn't been
> dropped, he would've been deployed there, and there's a fairly good
> chance he'd have been a casualty because of his rank and position in the
> army (a private).  So, if the bomb hadn't been dropped (twice) in Japan,
> I might not be here to be having this argument.  Does that mean that
> dropping the bomb was the right thing to do?  Of course not, but I can't
> help but be just a little conflicted about it.  In terms of the suffering
> it caused, no - it was the wrong thing to do.  But if it hadn't been
> done, who knows how many more would have died?

And had native Americans were willing and able to protect their land and
prevent conquest and immigration, maybe the world would be a better place
now. It's pointless to argue what ifs, but it should help convince you that
whatever happened in the past (immigration included) need not have been the
"right" thing.

> What you seem to be saying is that since we can't do anything about the
> past, we should just forget that it happened and not learn from it.

No. I'm saying we should base today's decisions on present circumstances,
not past circumstances. Just because people immigrated in the past in large
numbers to their present locations, we cannot assume immigration is always
desirable. There's no hypocricy in realising what worked in the past may not
work now (or vice versa).

> I don't have that luxury - and remember that those who fail to learn from
> history are doomed to repeat it.

Learning is one thing. Making present decisions based on historical data or
pretext is something entirely different.

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