Going Around, Coming Around

THE UNITED STATES was from its beginning intent on becoming an empire, and an imperial power. Having defied its British overlords by migrating west of the Appalachian mountains, having evicted the British, the French, and the Spanish from their North American possessions, and having successfully exterminated the native inhabitants of the original thirteen colonies, the united States was full of itself, confident of its divinely ordained future. When Most countries in Latin American revolted and gained independence from Spain in the early eighteen twenties, the United States began to see itself as the new colonial power in North and South America, replacing the Europeans. Almost immediately the U.S. issued the "Monroe Doctrine", instructing all foreign powers, mainly the Europeans, that henceforth only the United states would wield power and influence throughout Latin America. The fact that the Doctrine was unenforceable and has never been enforced die nothing to deter american imperialistic aggression in the region. throughout the late nineteenth century, and all the way up to the present, the United States has been intimately involved in the internal affairs, the political and economic life of nearly every Latin American country, removing and installing governments by force and subversion, according to perceived American needs, managing national economies, reaping the benefits of resourced exploitation. All this has enriched America's corporations and their owners, and has impoverished the nations and people of every country upon which the heavy hand of American imperialism has descended. The United States is a nation, in a very real sense, built upon stolen resources, stolen lives, violence, and conquest. Since before World War Two the birds have been coming home to roost, as it were, as millions of Latino refugees from poverty have ascended northward and descended on the United States, many legally according to American immigration, many not, all seeking nothing but a better life of mere survival. they are, and have always been willing to work for their survival. Detailed research clearly shows that these millions of Latin American immigrants, mainly from mexico, have greatly enriched the United States, by providing labor, creating prosperity, and increasing the consumer and tax base in an expanding but not fully developed capitalistic economy bursting with growth potential , but desperately in need of cheap labor for corporate expansion and profit. Like Trump said, they bring crime and rape, but very little compared to the amount engendered internally by native born citizens of European ancestry. Like people from Africa, people from Latin America have truly not made America more culturally vibrant they have made it more prosperous, and indeed, they have made america possible. Mexican immigrants have filled up what Mexicans call the "occupied territories", a huge swath of land in the Southwest which the United States invaded and conquered under false pretenses and turned into states beginning in the eighteen forties. For a nation in which everyone not of Indian/native american ancestry is the ancestor of an arguably illegal foreign immigrant, for Latin American people to be told that they should not be here, illegally or otherwise makes no more sense than to tell African-Americans that they should "go back to Africa". Recent surveys indicate that only twenty five percent of conservative evangelical Christians believe that Latino immigrants should be offered assistance, while seventy five percent of atheists and people unaffiliated with any religion believe that America should "welcome the stranger". This statistic speaks for itself. It says much about the true nature of the American conservative Christian community, ans who actually follow the teachings of Christ, and who does not. It says much about the ignorance Americans have of their own sordid history, and their arrogance of ignorance. Upon reflection, none of it is at all surprising.