A month ago the Washington Post reported that:
Nearly half of the nation’s children under 5 are racial or ethnic minorities, and the percentage is increasing mainly because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly [Link]
 |
|
Gandhi was once asked what he thought about Western civilization. “I think,” he replied, “it would be a very good idea.” |
<
p>This news sent the right-wingnuts into conniptions [Thanks Saheli]. The next day, John Gibson, the host of Fox News’ “The Big Story” told his (largely white) viewers to:
“Do your duty. Make more babies… You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic.” [Link] [Video clip].
He later stuffed his foot further into his mouth by “explaining” that he was not bigotted against Hispanics, but instead, against Muslims (and all non-Christians by implication):
“My concern was simply that I didn’t want America to become Europe, where the birth rate is so low the continent is fast being populated by immigrants, mainly from Muslim countries, whose birth rate is very high … I said … it was also a good idea if people other than Hispanics also got busy and have more babies. Those people would include both blacks and whites. I suppose Asians, too… 50 years from now, Europe will be brown and Muslim, and America will be brown and Christian. I am fine with that, America, and I’ve said so many times. I’d rather live with the Christians here than live … under Sharia law in Europe” [Link]
<
p>Notice his ambivalence about Asians, even though he’s probably thinking of the yellow kind, many of whom are Christian. What might he feel about the brown kind, many of whom are neither Christian nor Muslim? And will he have a heart attack if he sees the latest brilliant inaccuracy from the TOI which states that:
The Indian diaspora is estimated at 20 billion. [Link]
<
p>As Manish points out, “the earth’s population is around 6.5 billion today,” which means the desi diaspora is over 300% of the world’s population. Getting scared yet, Mr. Gibson?
The moral of the story? Get your news from an accurate source and you’ll sleep at night 
Note how the Standard&Poor index reacts adversely to his comments.
Friends, humans and controlling shareholders! Time for the capitalist system to take Gibson’s show out!
Hail
Milton FriedmanMogambo!Fear of a Black Planet!
This message was given to the same crowd who is “protecting” the southern border, you know against what. Their excuse is “national security” … Yeah right !!!
I say 4 more comments before someone defends this idiot Gibson.
13 years ago Time Magazine had a cover feature on what the racial future of America would be like. Maybe in the (not so) far future all the racial groups will have merged into one.
There ‘s no stopping the Sepia invasion.
are all whote americans this stupid, or is this what it just looks like from outside of america?
If that Gibson chap is representative of the general hair styling preference of his target audience, it’s no wonder they have trouble making babies.
I tried, really. But how the heck is the link related to a Sepia Invasion, cc?
perplexed,
t
ps That book had me freaked for years after I read it…
Gibson reminds me of environmentalists who drive SUV’s, animal-rights activists who eat fish and anti-globalisation morons (like A.Roy) who jaunt from one country to another ranting and raving.
How many children do you have, Gibson? And who gave you the right to define what others’ duty is?
If Gibson wants to solve the issue of low birth rates, he should be campaigning for the abolition of Social Security, Welfare, Medicare and a host of other Nanny-State programs which let a person get something that someone else (unrelated to you) pays for. Once you remove all State-support, people will be forced to marry, stay married, have children, pay for all their associated costs, so that they could count on them in their golden years (not necessarily for financial support). This is how the world worked since the dawn of mankind – only in the last century have we seen State take upon the job of offspring. And wherever this has been implemented, plummetting population rates have been the norm (Europe, Japan, America etc), followed by a stangating economy (not yet in America due to legal immigrants).
But then, I’m not sure Gibson is well versed in 20th century history.
M. Nam
this = State-Support.
M. Nam
Hmmm here I’ll start off. As crude as it sounds and I don’t necessarily agree with the entire message nor do I like Gibson, there are pieces of truth to his statement. The delivery sucks, perhaps sugar coated by an intellectual the same message would have been perceived differently.
The birth rate in the United States has hit an all time low among white/black women. And no this isn’t a positive sign of emancipation for women. Fatherless children isn’t a positive trend. By 2030 one in 5 American will be Hispanic. In the past decade non Hispanic birth rates have declined while Hispanic birth rates have increased by nearly 40%. A vast majority of them from Mexico because of “birth right” of being born in the United States. More then a third of all babies today are born to unmarried women. 35% of Hispanics don’t have insurance to cover their health or their births. Do all these factors not put a strain on this country?
In 1776, a century and a half after being in America there existed entire swaths of Americans that were steadfastly loyal to England and considered themselves English and betrayed Washington and Congress. Why then would an American today not worry about the loyalties of large segments of foreigners in this country? Why would or should a conservative American with generational roots in this country not be worried about the prospects of this country?
The message unfortunately drowns out what a vast majority of Americans are now simply afraid to verbalize lest they are accused of being politically incorrect bigots.
Ive always considered the republican right a bunch of racist b@stards…now i know its true…
JOAT,
Simple. Turn them back from the hospitals. When some women end up giving birth next to a garbage dump, screaming, with placenta strewn everywhere, others will learn a lesson that the State will not support their ways. When some un-insured heart-attack patients are turned back because of lack of immigration documents, the rest will simply go back with the message that America is not good for free-loading anymore.
Once (and I will sound like a broken record) the State goes back to it’s diminished role (of the pre-1850’s), Americans will once again learn the values of Individualism and Personal Responsibility, which form the core values that the Founders stressed. After that, it does not matter whether Hispanics are 26% of populations or Patels own 90% of motels. People will be looked upon as individuals. Group dynamics will be negligible. When everyone is a minority, whom can you hate?
M. Nam
What is the definition of ‘Hispanic’? Anyone from S. America after 20th century? Because U.S. history has many latin/spanish speaking peoples immigrating since it’s inception.
Why then would an American today not worry about the loyalties of large segments of foreigners in this country? Why would or should a conservative American with generational roots in this country not be worried about the prospects of this country?
Because worrying about loyalties of Mexicans is alarmist and quite silly. I havnt seen any evidence which would suggest that 3rd-4rth generation Hispanic Americans are not loyal to the US.
Once (and I will sound like a broken record) the State goes back to it’s diminished role (of the pre-1850’s)
I for one would not like to live in Pre-New Deal America. I dont want to see America turn into New Delhi where desperate half naked polio stricken kids swarm your car at every crossing.
Holy shit M. Nam #10 & #14 I actually find myself agreeing with you. I’m speechless. I pray now that Spoorlam doesn’t show up and ruin this love!!!!
Jane, You agree with hospitals turning down people during emergencies because they cant afford health insurance?
isn’t the planet overpopulated enough? It’s about time people stopped spawning.
Hail
Recreational SexMogambo!Nope I disagree with free healthcare for those that don’t contribute to the system. This isn’t about ethics but about financial practicality. I disagree with being the middle class that is being squeezed like communism where I have to work twice as hard to make more and more gets taken out to benefit someone else. Emergencies are a whole other animal. We can argue on semantics till we turn blue. Child birth is NOT an emergency! You’ve had 9 months to prepare for it.
Imagine women giving birth left, right and center in the middle of NYC. Also, sometimes babies are born prematurly. “Holy Shit…im having a baby now. get me to the ER”
Seems a bit harsh to me.
Nope I disagree with free healthcare for those that don’t contribute to the system. This isn’t about ethics but about financial practicality. I disagree with being the middle class that is being squeezed like communism where I have to work twice as hard to make more and more gets taken out to benefit someone else. Emergencies are a whole other animal. We can argue on semantics till we turn blue. Child birth is NOT an emergency! You’ve had 9 months to prepare for it.
I feel your pain of being squeezed with taxes on your hard earned dollars. The reality is that millions of Americans work in jobs where they get paid a wage where its just not possible to purchase health insurance. These are hard working people but cant break the $9 an hour ceiling. Btw the uninsured dont get a free ride. There is no free health coverage available for the poor (who are not over 60) from the Government. In most states children themselves get free health care but the parents do not. Also people have to pay back even for emergencies. Now one could argue that the poor cannot pay back the cost of emergency treatment and the hospitals pass the cost to everybody and thats probably correct.
I think the biggest myth in the US is about the poor getting free health care which the middle class has to bear the burden of in forms of taxes. The poor have no health insurance period. People of course get treated for emergencies but they have to pay it back. Almost 50% of all Bankruptcies in the US are due to Unpaid Medical Bills Nobody is free loading. Get a grip on reality.
Ever heard of compassion? Children don’t contribute to the system.
Childbirth can be life-endangering so I’d say that’s a fairly ignorant statement you’re making Jane.
I do believe that all this is a natural process of the rise and fall of civilizations and races (even taking into account the myriad ways we can define them). Well, guess whose population was the highest in the Americas in the 16th century?? And now its the whites. Nothing is permanent, but the dominant races/populations always like to think it will be.
This is why I thank god that in America many hospitals are Christian hospitals who would never do the above.
Governments help cover pre-natal and natal care for indigent populations for two reasons (1) it’s very bad politics to turn away pregnant women and (2) it’s cheaper to assist in healthy child birth than to deal with birth defects later on.
And while childbirth may not be an emergency, it’s very expensive if you don’t have insurance. Check out the bills your friends get – most of us couldn’t afford it if it wasn’t covered by insurance.
BTW, JoAT, he claims he’s not against Hispanic birth, he’s all for it.
In his “clarification” he said that he just wants white Christians to pitch in and help hispanics so that there are lots of Christian children. He’s afraid of non-Christian children overwhelming the system. So, assuming you’re not Christian, he’s not interested in encouraging your procreation 😉
“Turn them back from the hospitals. When some women end up giving birth next to a garbage dump, screaming, with placenta strewn everywhere, others will learn a lesson that the State will not support their ways.”
Some of you really scare me. Really, what kind of society do you want to live in? I am for taking care of the poor even at the expense of my hard-earned dollars. There are a lot of people who are as hard working you and me are, but still can’t afford health care. And what is it about teaching a lesson? Do you think anyone would exploit free health care by falling sick advertently? Considering that most people here come from a third world country like India, I would have assumed better sensitivity..
JOAT:
First of all, all those poor people who you think are “freeloading” and not “contributing to the system” do actually contribute to the economy. You seem to think that poor people 1) don’t work hard, which they do (and one could argue a lot more than others) and 2) poor people are poor because they didn’t work hard and prefer to be poor and freeload.
I’ve been to public hospitables, dentists, etc and you simply do not get anything for free. People are asked to pay.
Seriously, MoorNam and JOAT’s comments here are frightening and off the hook.
non-sarcastic question: can any of the Canadian Mutineers elaborate on their healthcare system. Meaning, if people are concerned about American healthcare being exploited by those who don’t pay in, what happens when the system doesn’t require pay-in privately, but is subsidized? Is there still any degree of “them” taking what’s “ours, because we paid for it”?
taz:
A billion people in India are testament to the relatively less use of contraceptives->less estrogen in water->male fish remain happily male. And happy males usually migrate to the USA, hence the link is in context.
“Free healthcare” doesn’t exist. You are asked to pay a base fee, which vary according to services, and then you are charged additionally. These other charges are based on either a sliding fee scale, for others it may be discounted fees.
Nothing is for free.
What a vulgar, grotesque image that has been described above.
Moor-Nam is truly a man after my own heart. There’s nothing like making a few good examples… preferably involving mass suffering and death… to prove the rightness of your cause…
Nothing like a good extreme example to shake people off their slumber!
AMFD: >> I dont want to see America turn into New Delhi …
I’m sure the analogy make sense in some parallel universe, but over here, cause and effect are in play.
But the Government has made it illegal for the hospitals to turn away people who have no health insurance! It’s people like me and you who pay for those rifraffs.
RC:
Like good, God-fearing, honest Christians, they pass the costs on to you and me!
najeeb:
I am not. Neither are millions like me. So I want to “secede” from the system. So you guys feel free to open charitable hospitals with your own hard earned cash – leave the rest of us. I might even drop in when I’m sick!!
M. Nam
Brown people are taking over America… (or was it Europeans that took over the brown man “Indians” land in the first place?)
These idiots need to stop worrying about cultural contexts too much. Everyone need to follow the law, get educated, and own your piece of land while living a healthy life. The cultural conservatives worry too much about the changing face of things. If it isn’t MTV or the internet, it’s changing demographics.
MoorNam – do you want to stop those freeloaders getting immunized by the state too?
Why is it a problem if well to do people pay for the costs of poor people’s emergency health needs?? From your logic there shouldn’t be “progressive” tax code at all. The wealthy shouldnt pay more tax from your reasoning. I dont agree with that. It assumes that poor people are just dead weight. Infact a lot of our riches is due to “the poor” people’s hardwork.
Thats exactly the kind of society that India is today. Private hospitals running for profit without consideration for the poor. Thats why India is such a structured society where their so limited social mobility. I hope US doesnt become that.
you mean the ones they exceled at on the backs of other people? lets not forget the real history of this country and the real reason these disparities exist in the first place. i for one do not buy into the idea that white people of western european descent have some sort of superior morality and that’s why they’re doing better compared to everyone else.
It assumes that poor people are just dead weight. Infact a lot of our riches is due to “the poor” people’s hardwork.
Agreed. So-called meritocracies lead -as in the United States today – to widening levels of inequality. And should the state cohere, some measure of redistribution will always be necessary.
“So you guys feel free to open charitable hospitals with your own hard earned cash – leave the rest of us.”
So, with your logic, the next thing would be to turn the poor people away from the other infrastructure as well, right? Why public libaries, show your tax ids or else you are denied entry. How about roads – why should poor people use roads, if they are not paying into the system. They should be rotting in their ghettos and slums. That may be that kind of society you want to live in – but definitely not me and thankfully a vast number of others. At the end of the day, it is only in the interest of a society that the sick are taken care of.
“But the Government has made it illegal for the hospitals to turn away people who have no health insurance! “
Are you kidding? That is not true. Only emergency care is given, if you don’t have money/health insurance.
That was 13 years ago already?! I distinctly remember that issue.
Since when are illegal immigrants who jump the fence to give birth here part of the group above? I am seriously realistic. I strongly believe in immigration moratoriums. Other countries do it. The US should as well.
Shall we not get all emotionally twisted over this? Even compassion has limits.
You miss the whole point. If I couldn’t afford having a child, had no job and no healthcare I have no business getting pregnant in the first place.
Somehow I couldn’t help but absorb ‘non Christian’ to mean ‘Muslim’. Personally I’m not so convinced with the population of the world, anyone including me should be procreating so I don’t find his words, where he’s coming from, offensive.
See first response above.
Assumptions. Try again.
As have I. Don’t kid yourself. You are made to pay because you have a job and can afford to. Even if you are made to pay it’s a small % of your salary. In NYC you can truly walk into any hospital give any bullshit name, not have any ID, get help and walk out. No one can go after you. There are 100s of 1000s of such people that disappear everyday and it’s the tax payers that absorb the cost.
Everyone gets emotional about this issue. Governments need to run on pragmatism. Compassion is wonderful but at some point there needs to be a lid on it. People jump the fence because they know this country will absorb them. The government needs to do a better job of regulating immigration and the strains it puts on local and state governments.
i don’t think it’s really about compassion, but more like the government needs to stop perpetuating the structural injustices it created.
Getting back to the topic…
Why do you think that some people can create fear and hatred with statements like: US will be Hispanic majority. Europe will be Muslim majority. etc etc? Because it depends on the group dynamics of the said people.
In India, if you tell the Hindus that (hypothetically speaking) Sikhs will be a majority in 20 years, they will go back to their movie. If you tell them Parsis will be a majority, they will go back to watching cricket. If you tell them Jains will be a majority, they will put more money into the stock market. That’s because, historically wherever/whenever Sikhs/Jains were in a majority, Hindus were not discriminated by them(and vice versa) because the group identity of the said people(Sikhs/Jains) is subservient to their individualistic streak. That’s the nature of non-SpoorLam religions. At the same time, if you tell Hindus that Muslims/Christians will be a majority, the hair on the nape of their neck immediately stands up. They know that the group identity of SpoorLam religions overrides the individual identities. They see that happening even today in Kashmir/Godhra/Nagaland etc.
Same here. If Mexico/Guatemala/Arabia/Iran had a strong record of Individualism, nobody would be scared of them becoming a majority.
M. Nam
And by saying that, YOU miss the point. Which is: whether what you’re saying is right or wrong, it’s too late. When someone’s pregnant, she’s pregnant. Now that that’s done, it can be a life-endangering situation if not handled professionally. And if someone is turned away from a hospital, a fatality or two may occur. So unless your goal is more dead bodies in the world, I’m sure you didn’t think it through when you said hospitals should turn away birthing mothers.
Yo, poor people WORK. They are not lazy bums. They work their asses off to make ends meet.
Furthermore, people get rich because there are those who are underpaid for the labor that they do. You don’t generate wealth out of thin air. People must work ten times more than what they are actually paid. This is where the “profit margin” comes in.
Lastly, let’s remember that there are PLENTY of middle class individuals/families that do not have or cannot afford health insurance. It’s not a given that those who don’t have health insurance are only those who are poor.
MoorNam:
I’m curious– how much do you think you’re personally paying for those “rifraffs”?
Umrikan Planters had a saying that blacks could be trained to work in the fields but not the native indians (hispanics). Now these poor hispnaics have finally been tamed to work in the amrikan fields; their good health is a colonial necessity, not a superfluous expense. Still, could we imagine a hispanic entity which had its sense of nativeness intact – it would be a veritable CHINA just on the other side of the border. Better to integrate them and pay their health expenses than have them itching to prove their superiority ala “guerera” –or whatever his name is–.
At any rate, this newscaster seems to be an out and out racist but like the typical american confuses (purposefully?) the islamic threat with the hispanic trifle. Hispanics will never bomb and terrorize the infidels and destroy their temples, or convert them at point of a quran. Brown is a legitimate category only for these white racists. Real world has other more meaningful identities (ie culture) than pigmentation of the skin.
Don’t kid yourself either. Those times I have been to public hospitals, dentists, etc. I didn’t have a job, and no, I couldn’t afford it either (so it’s better not to make assumptions on your part).
You think illegal immigrants don’t work?