| It's the same everywhere: everybody wants to slam the door behind them and pull up the ladder after them. And none are more chauvinistic than recently naturalized citizens. I should know. :)
The problems come when you have a group of immigrants that are ahh.. assimilation-challenged. The Germans, the Irish and the still more exotic Asians have all integrated pretty well into the countries they've emigrated to, and opprobrium has passed to the next wave of immigrants. Everyone in the States has eventually made it into the mainstream (except Blacks and Indians -- for obvious historical reasons).
Anyway, enough digression. What with relative ease of travel (A Peruvian colleague just spent a week in Seoul and was stunned: "The place is full of Peruvians!") immigration is today a huge issue throughout the rich (and "rich") world. Certainly here in Europe. And the more jobs are exported while cheap labour is imported, the more you can expect a nasty backlash. It's our primitive, tribal selves.
"I wish I was as cocksure of anything as Tom Macaulay is of everything."
-- Viscount Melbourne |