Well, Amos, let me ask THIS question....How did we manage to find clever, creative people to invent, create, and manage this country when we were 20,000,000...or 60,000,000....or 100,000,000?

   You have to be careful of getting lost in the theory that the more people we have, the better odds we have of accomplishing wonderful things. What do you do when all those wonderful, clever people have little place to live, and have just survival as their main occupation?
There are 2 issues...total numbers of people, and the makeup of the population. I maintain, as you see, that we have TOO MANY TOTAL...and have explained that in detail in many other threads.

Now, I wish to make absolutely clear that I have NO problem with ".... genuine contribution from all kinds of people" Indeed...I agree that cultural diversity was one of the virtues and driving forces in the success of this country....and still is. That has little to do with the current **problem** of too many immigrants too fast, with very little control over how & whether they are integrated and assimilated into the general mix.

I will respect and live beside and keep company with...and even vote for...a decent, qualified person of ANY ethnic background....as long as they strive to be American, and do not intend to promote & encourage separate cultural enclaves based on original ethnicity.

I appreciate, respect and encourage people to honor and 'keep alive' the customs and language of their ethnic backgrounds..(as I did last weekend when I attended a Celtic festival and chatted with representatives of my Scottish clan background). I have attended Hispanic festivals, Asian festivals of various sorts, Polish festivals, Native American gatherings, Greek festivals...etc.. and been pleased that language, costume, food, stories and history were being preserved.
   What disturbs me is the tendency of some to conciously resist learning 'English' and adapting to American customs in social intercourse. It should not be necessary to have every recorded message and instruction booklet..etc..to have Spanish included!. *IF* that is a good idea, why not Korean, Chinese, Hindi, ...and 4-5 more?

What I am trying to get across is that rapid and unregulated immigration by people who have little interest in becoming American, but who would rather create mini-Mexicos or Guatamalas or Koreas is a serious problem. That is NOT how most immigrants arrived 100 years ago....and 100 years ago, not being fluent in English was not the issue it is now. (Yes, I have several paragraphs of support for that claim; I just have no time to type details right now).

...I think I'd better stop now, even though thoughts are swirling..I have work to do, and will be out of town for the weekend, with packing still to do.