Michael Kinsley Nails a Stopword
The words we use influence people and often reveal our biases and may be even engender a previously non-existing bias into our brain. Hence, the reason I use the term undocumented migrant as opposed to illegal immigrant. It is because we are debating the line in the law, so referring to the legal status of a person is ENTIRELY useless. It is simply a semantic stopsign. Michael Kinsley gets that much 100% right, though he doesn’t say much else. It is also pathetic that it has to be said. Oh, the capability of people to debate an issue, or think about one for more than 5 minutes, is woefully low. I can imagine a conversation like this happening: PersonA: “We should legalize more immigrants” PersonB: “But that is illegal.” PersonA: “Yes…that is why I want to legalize them.” I hope to get around to posting some stats, e.g. net tax flows and crime, of various generations of immigrants soon.
Legal vs. Illegal Immigration Isn’t the Real Issue
Michael Kinsley on immigration:
Kidding Ourselves About Immigration, by Michael Kinsley, Commentary, Time: What you are supposed to say about immigration–what most of the presidential candidates say, what the radio talk jocks say–is that you are not against immigration. Not at all. You salute the hard work and noble aspirations of those who are lining up at American consulates around the world. But that is legal immigration. What you oppose is illegal immigration.
This formula is not very helpful. We all oppose breaking the law, or we ought to. Saying that you oppose illegal immigration is like saying you oppose illegal drug use or illegal speeding. Of course you do, or should. The question is whether you think the law draws the line in the right place. Should using marijuana be illegal? Should the speed limit be raised–or lowered? The fact that you believe in obeying the law reveals nothing about what you think the law ought to be, or why.
Another question: Why are you so upset about this particular form of lawbreaking? After all, there are lots of laws, not all of them enforced with vigor. The suspicion naturally arises that the illegality is not what bothers you. What bothers you is the immigration. … So in the end, this is not really a debate about illegal immigration. This is a debate about immigration. … [...more...]
