Somebody Get Ann Coulter a Map and a Book on Political Development (and an Almanac)
Ann Coulter: a blonder version of Pat Buchanan
Ann Coulter tries on her inner Pat Buchanan in a recent column: Invasion USA: When did we Vote to Become Mexico?
For decades, Mexicans have been about 30 percent of all legal immigrants to the United States, while only a smidgen more than 1 percent come from Great Britain. Is that fair? Granted, their food is better, but why is it the norm is to have nearly 30 times as many Mexican as British immigrants?
We have been taking in more immigrants from Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, individually, than from England, our mother country. There are nearly twice as many immigrants from El Salvador as from Canada, and 10 times as many as from Australia.
I am guessing, and call me crazy, that there are at least two excellent reasons why immigration from Mexico (and other Latin American countries) substantially tops that from the UK. First, and this is a shocker, the US has a massive land border with Mexico, while an ocean separates the US and the UK. Second, the level of economic and political development in the UK is more comparable to that of the US than is Mexico’s to the US and that would dampen the interest in substantial migration from there to here. Previous waves of European immigration (especially at the early part of the 20th Century) were driven by development disparities or exigent circumstances, like the aftermath of world wars. There is no particular reason, in 2013, to expect similar levels of immigration from developed states as from less developed ones.
Part of the disparities in the numbers is also influenced by things like relative population size (Mexico’s population is roughly twice that of the UK’s, for example). Although, granted, it is not the main variable. The main variable is relative level of development. After all, why might it be the case that there would be more Salvadorans coming to the US than Canadians? It is a true mystery!
If only there was some metric we could use to shed light on this subject.
Let’s see, the per capita GDP of the US is $49,800, one of the highest in the world. How does that compare to the countries in question?
Australia: $42,400
Canada: $41,500
UK: $36,700
Mexico: $15,300
Colombia: $10,700
El Salvador: $7,700
So, it ends up that El Salvador in one of the poorer countries in the world, and certainly one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, and Canada is one of the richest. Odd how such factors might influence one’s decision to migrate. My vast social science knowledge also leads me to point out that being poor in a really poor country truly bites in comparison to being poor in a rich country. Poor folks from really poor countries have been known to risk their lives for the chance to work as a janitor in a fast food restaurant. Poor people in rich countries, not so much.
Of course, as per the aforementioned Buchanan, Coulter is asserting that being “American” fundamentally means “white Anglo” (and hence the concerns about immigrants from the UK, Canada, and Australia). Being of a more swarthy complexion clearly means “not America” to Coulter and her ilk.
Why do we have to become a different country? Was there a vote when the country decided to turn itself into Mexico? No other country has ever just decided to turn itself into another country like this.
Also: this assertion is ironic (not to mention ahistorical), given that much of the USA used to be part of Mexico and it didn’t become part of the US via a vote. While I am not suggesting retrocession, it does require a substantial amount of myopia to ignore the historical ties between a huge chunk of the United States and Mexico (and a lot of people who are quite American, despite their hue or their last names).
The notion that American is about kin groups, and not about broader ideals, is a fundamentally flawed and racist position.
(For those who do not get the Buchanan reference, please see: Buchanan and “White America”).
What popped into my head immediately upon reading the title of this post:
“Couldn’t find her ass with a map and both hands…”
Indeed–and the irony is, most self-professed conservatives would likely say one of the things that makes America great is that it is about broader ideals…right before they started making it about kin groups.
Masochist, for reading her dreck
Does anyone play attention to that nutcase anymore? I know that she is blonde and to (some eyes) cute, but really, isn’t it time to put her on the Index of Forbidden Pundits or something?
1-) There is one point about immigration that can be related to what Ann Coulter wrote. Most middle class people, not only on England, but basically anywhere else, does not subject themselves to live illegally in another country.
Yes, there is a large number of very poor people immigrating to the US, but that´s the result of a non-existing immigration system.
2-) As I pointed out, the lower cost of living and cheaper currencies meant that people could immigrate to Miami or Houston, wash dishes or something like that and then use the savings to build a house or a small grocery store in Guerrero or in Guatemala. Today, the Latin American currencies are fair more expensive than the dollar and the cost of living has also skyrocketed. So, immigration from Latin America is in decline, and it will be.
That does not mean that there are zillions of people willing to live in the same country where Ann Coulter lives, eating crappy food and paying for the most expensive healthcare system in the known universe.
I’m part of the 1% ex-pat Brits that Coulter apparently approves of. I am pretty sure that after a brief meeting with me she would be as unhappy about my immigration as she is anyone from Mexico.
Blonder, dumber, and less serious. Pat Buchanan at least means what he says. With Coulter, it doesn’t matter if what she says makes any sense or not, as long as she thinks it will offend the right people
Ann Coulter needs more than a map she needs a brain! This lady opens her mouth and just like her fellow nutcase Sarah Palin all manner of pure nonsense flows out. But when they live in a world of pure fantasy where they think what they say actually makes sense, what else can you expect from them both? Idiots will listen to other idiots and sadly we have quite a few idiots out there!
If Ann Coulter is so concerned about the mix of the American people, perhaps she should have gone ahead and reproduced. However, I suspect she is just a plain old narcissist who should spend some time on a shrink’s couch.
Poster girl for Jenos, JKB, bill, etc.
. . . this assertion is ironic (not to mention ahistorical), given that much of the USA used to be part of Mexico and it didn’t become part of the US via a vote.
Thank you.
I’ve known immigrants from the UK that lived up to every negative stereotype there is about immigrants .
But hey, they are white.
People that don’t have real girlfriends need a fantasy…
I’m from one of those regions. This area was Hispanic before Mexico or the United States even existed as countries.
@Lynda: I don’t recall you commenting before. But I think I like you.
If we didn’t want the Mexicans, we shouldn’t have stolen half their country.
It’s a bit more complicated than that. Here’s present law.
Until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 quotas were, indeed, established for issuing visas by country and did attempt to preserve the ethnic proportions already in the United States. Ironically, the Hart-Cellar Act also put strict limitations on the number of visas that would be issued to Mexican nationals far below what they otherwise would have been.
Additionally, family reunification (which accounts for about 2/3s of visas now issued) itself tends to establish ethnic quotas. That’s complicated even more by “diversity quotas”.
Nowadays we have about 1 million legal immigrants per year, primarily through family reunification, and roughly 700 thousand illegal immigrants per year, mostly from Mexico and Latin America.
The most depressing is that I don’t think Ann Coulter believes what she says. She’s very good at dog whistling and made, and still makes, a fortune milking morons.
I don’t know what’s worse: actually believing this line of crap as Buchanan does, or only pretending as I suspect Coulter does.
@murray:
I completely agree Murray. She’s might be heartless, vindictive and lack a soul, but she’s not stupid. She knows exactly how to stay relevant. Pam Geller has been trying to copy the model and she’s doing pretty well, but she fails to realize that you need to expand your hatred if you really want to be a partisan hack. She’s too much of a niche performer. Michelle Malkin on the other hand…
@Lynda:
Yeah, I don’t think that Coulter would be happy with the political views of most Ozzies, Brits, or any other immigrant from “white” countries.
Most of whom are pro gun control, pro socialized medicine, and socially tolerant. Not exactly falling in Coulter’s camp.
If anything, Mexicans (or any other immigrant from south of the border) are socially conservative, family oriented, hard working, and self reliant. Closer to views Coulter claims to admire.
But, of course, they’re typically brown-skinned, and they speak funny. So they’re out.
And ironically, when I think of Coulter, I think of a low hanging pinata – easy to hit.
Cheers. (or, … Sláinte, if it pleases Ann Coulter)
AKA a lie.
Many of my ancestors were British immigrants that had converted to the Mormon church in the mid 1800’s. At that time, those immigrants were widely considered to be undesirable. Their customs were strange, their intelligence was questioned, their ability to assimilate into the American culture was often questioned. Guess what? We turned out ok.
Over the years, all of these objections have been used and re-used by anti-immigrant groups in the United States and, as pretty much everyone recognizes now, these groups have been wrong over and over and over. The Pat Buchanan’s have pretty much always been wrong.
Ann Coulter and her ilk are just the latest iteration of the Know Nothings. One hundred years from now it will be the immigration of some other race or nationality or religious group or whatever that will be opposed for pretty much the same set of reasons and the Ann Coulter’s of that day will see the Mexicans as the “good immigrants”, like the Mormons or Italians or Asians are today. And they will be wrong again.
@murray:
Absolutely. Coulter is not a stupid woman, rather she is very, very cynical opportunist. What’s most depressing is that the people in the mass media know this but continue to give her a platform because she appeals to a certain segment of the population (who in their hearts know they’re being played but love her schtick to much to stop).
@gVOR08:
I am a regular reader but only occasionally comment. I am sure that Anne would use this as evidence that I am a shiftless immigrant given her own dogmatic comments on every possible topic.
@Lynda:
Unless you are Black or a Muslim, I doubt it.
@James Pearce (Formerly Known as Herb):
Those areas were indeed Hispanic before the U.S. & Mexico, but don’t forget there were people living there even before the Spanish introduced Hispanicism.
@M. Bouffant:
1-) The Mexican Society is largely a mixture of Native Indian culture with Spanish Culture. Many Mexican traditions come from Native Indian Culture, and in fact, as I like to note, even Our Lady of Guadalupe is a mestiza version of Virgin Mary.
90% of the Mexicans are from Native Indian descent.
2-) People like Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan have no problems with White Mexicans or White people with Spanish sounding names.
she’s really funny to read, love the sarcasm that drips off the page. her main point about immigration is how we encourage and reward the dregs of some countries and discourage the successful ones from other countries. of course mexico has little to do with it as they just flood across the border at will and we do little to stop them. and no, that’s not racist- it’s reality.
@bill: That must be why anti-immigration groups are buying ads in the Washington, D.C. area (on WTOP for instance), telling people that the foreigners are stealing their STEM jobs.
@Timothy Watson: could be, don’t live near DC! foreigners aren’t stealing them, we allow more of them here than in return. coulters rant is that we are allowing more talent from abroad vs the ones who will always rely on fed aid through most of their lives- they tend to vote for democrats!
@bill:
Two points:
(1) Actually, they’re not flooding across the borders these days – illegal immigration is at the lowest levels in over 30 years. We have a lot more border enforcement today, and we’re deporting more illegals than ever.
(2) Also, do you really think that Ann would have a problem if the illegals were, say … 1 million Canadians, or a couple million Brits, Scots, or Irish? Yeah, right.
Ah, you mean our forebearers? Yea, it would have been so much better if someone had kept them out.