Jan 1^st

Pat Buchanan in his column asks, “Is the western part of the world disintegrating?” I’ll bet every one of us knows the answer Buchanan will give to that question. Pat is another of the right wing gloom and doomsters. I’m surprised that he doesn’t spend some time every day carrying a sign saying “Repent ye Caucasians with small families lest you cause civilization’s end.”

His thesis, in a nutshell (Where some say it belongs!) is that the Caucasians, by which he means northern Europeans, are being out populated by non-Caucasians, by which he means the inferior races. We are not in the habit of casting aspersions here but Buchanan has been labeled a bigot, and that label has been certified by no less a conservative icon than William F. Buckley himself.

Buchanan’s gripe with immigrants is that they aren’t more like us; he doesn’t put it quite that way, he says that they should learn English, adopt American values, presumably dress like us and in no way stand out from third generation Americans in a crowd. That will probably happen but it will take another generation or two. Immigrants have always met with hostility here. Buchanan’s Irish ancestors were the victims of the “No Irish Need Apply” signs that met them when they wanted jobs. Chinese and Japanese were prohibited from immigrating to this country for a time. (They could be brought is to labor on our railroads but couldn’t become our citizens.) Eastern Europeans were restricted too because with their rudimentary English they didn’t do well on intelligence tests normed on native English speakers; on that basis Government bureaucrats decided that many were feeble minded. There were similar absurdities.

Buchanan and Trump are fighting yesterday’s battle on immigration, at least with Mexico. In the 1960s Mexican women had seven children for each mother, now they have slightly over two. Forty percent of married women in Mexico have been sterilized. All this means that it is unlikely that any border fence will be needed because the number of Mexicans wanting to come here will be matched by the number wanting to return to Mexico.

The situation in Miami where the city has become bilingual isn’t mentioned by Buchanan at all. Perhaps because most of those Cuban Americans are devoted to the Republican Party and very opposed to any rapprochement with Cuba such as Obama is trying to construct.

Buchanan is following where at least one of the founding fathers has already led. Here is a selection from Ben Franklin writing about my ancestors, the Pennsylvania Dutch.

"Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own Nation…and as few of the English understand the German Language, and so cannot address them either from the Press or Pulpit, ’tis almost impossible to remove any prejudices they once entertain…Not being used to Liberty, they know not how to make a modest use of it…I remember when they modestly declined intermeddling in our Elections, but now they come in droves, and carry all before them, except in one or two Counties...In short unless the stream of their importation could be turned from this to other colonies, as you very judiciously propose, they will soon so outnumber us, that all the advantages we have will not in My Opinion be able to preserve our language, and even our Government will become precarious."

Nothing is new under the sun!