I wasn't going to get involved, but I feel I should. There is a long term historical perspective to this. The history of powerful civilisations shows us that as wealth and prosperity grows, there is an increasing reluctance on the part of the indigenous population to carry out the less edifying tasks that keep the society functioning. The consequence is that such societies tend to seek labour from outside their borders; examples include the Roman Empire (read Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall...'), slavery in the United States, the economic boom in the 1950s in Britain which stimulated Caribbean and Asian immigration, the current migration of Filipino labour to the West and the Middle East, the UK recruiting nurses from overseas; the list is long. There is a parallel process whereby those who live in less prosperous areas see the opportunity to improve their lot, and move by whichever means they have to hand (boat people, Cuban refugees, asylum seekers et al.)The whole system can be seen as humanity trying to reach some kind of equilibrium, where there is enough food and other resources to go round. I suppose what I am trying to say is that there is a historical inevitability to all of this; the principle of entropy ensures that civilisations, like all systems, decay over time, despite efforts to shore them up. Rather than trying to preserve some kind of racially and culturally static situation, the real trick is to try to assess what the next point of equilibrium will be , and move swiftly towards it, using the tools of statehood as necessary. A good primer for this thinking is Francis Fukuyama's book 'The End of History and the Last Man'; before the racists jump in, he's a third generation American. To give my own background, I live near Stoke, and I'm originally from Saddleworth. I'm deeply saddened by what has happened to my home town, especially the lack of tolerance. A musical link; go to www.webfolk.net , and have a look at Geoff's song 'Reclaim the Flag'. As an example of misunderstanding; he was accused of being racist when someone heard this for the first time.
Regards to all
Mandotim (Tim from Bit on the Side)