Remember America, the immigrant nation?
Health care reform is law. Now can we talk about something else?
Next up on the policy-making agenda in DC is, hopefully, immigration reform. We've here at the Kauffman Foundation for something like a , a program that would grant citizenship to migrants who want to (and are able to) create new firms and jobs in America (but be sure to read ). I go one step further, and believe America would be wise to return to its roots as a more open society in general, not just with the high-skill immigrants.
As the "nation of immigrants" embarks on another policy discussion, it might help to keep our cultural heritage in mind. I often hear the words of Emma Lazarus echo in my mind, for example. The words of her poem, :
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,鈥╓ith conquering limbs astride from land to land;鈥℉ere at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand鈥ˋ mighty woman with a torch, whose flame鈥↖s the imprisoned lightning, and her name鈥∕other of Exiles. From her beacon-hand鈥℅lows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command鈥═he air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.鈥�"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she鈥╓ith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,鈥╕our huddled masses yearning to breathe free,鈥═he wretched refuse of your teeming shore.鈥⊿end these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,鈥↖ lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
And then there is the play, , published in 1908. In it, the protagonist proclaims,
America is God's Crucible, the great Melting-Pot where all the races of Europe are melting and reforming... Germans and Frenchmen, Irishmen and Englishmen, Jews and Russians - into the Crucible with you all! God is making the American.
------------------------------
海角大神 has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.
