Posted by
Recovering Bureaucrat on Saturday, December 09, 2006 10:12:30 AM
Hooray for Tony Blair!
Jerry Fox
December 9, 2006 could be the day that disgruntled Americans start planning a big march back across the Atlantic to a country more in tune with the life they would like to lead. Descendants of the Pilgrims and others who fled England to escape tyranny and enjoy freedom may well decide that the brits have got it right this time around.
Tony Blair has said out loud what many Americans would like to see said here by our leaders. You are welcome in America if you come legally, embrace our values, learn our language, and operate under our laws, not some you bring with you.
According to the Daily Telegraph this day, that is what Blair has announced in Britain. It is a turnaround for him, and for the Labour party, and it reflects growing disenchantment with the multiculturalism experiment.
Some time back an article was circulating on the internet, attributing similar remarks to the Prime Minister of Australia. I don't know if it was verified by anyone or not. But if so, then there might be the beginning of a trend.
I would not be surprised to see the leadership in France take a similar view in the coming months, and be joined by other nations as well.
Who are the spoilers of the great dream to multiculturize the world? It is not just muslims, it is not just mexicans, it is any and all immigrants who refuse to adjust themselves and their views to the country they have chosen as their new home.
America is not innocent in this failure. We have been among the leaders in exporting our religious beliefs to other nations, and exporting our way of governing as well. Does this mean isolationism is the best way to go.
Perhaps for a while all nations need to draw back from exporting their culture, ideology, and religion. Maybe if would be best to just go for commerce. It is much more likely that as wealth spreads around the globe, education will be enhanced, and the need will grow for people to "have a larger say" in how their nation is configured. Trying to do a culture push through activism, instead of a culture pull through economic development just may be the wrong thing to do.
In my own view, a big hooray goes to Tony Blair for sure, and maybe John Howard too. It will be interesting to see how the world reacts to this development, and whether the Mayflower of the 21st Century heads the other way.