The following is a transcript from yesterday’s No Pundit Intended talk radio show:
Incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has drawn a great deal of support from Muslims – even from high-profile activists for Hamas. Livingstone is a controversial figure in England for many reasons, but he has garnered favor by Muslims because of his beliefs about diversity – if you believe the rhetoric. I don’t.
Livingstone is one of those kinds of guys who perpetuate the very lack of assimilation of their immigrant population directly correlating to the identity of those immigrants in British society. Britain is in an identity crisis. When the Archbishop of Canterbury makes a case of Sharia courts in Britain, you know you have a problem.
Let me give you a window into this from the perspective of Muslims themselves. This information is from the Pew Research Center.
65% of the US Muslim population is foreign born and the majority of that is fairly recent immigration – less than 10 years. Compare this to Britain – where Muslim immigration has spanned 300 years and a large percentage is native born.
In the Unites States – 47% of Muslims think of themselves as Muslims before Americans. That is amazingly low, as you think many of these people may not yet BE Americans. In Britain, 81% of the Muslim population thinks of themselves as Muslims first. Now the thinking in both Britain and the US that things are better for Women averages about the same – 60%. About 50% in both countries are very concerned about “Islamic-extremism”.
The difference in opinion about income between the two countries, however, is staggering. Only 2% of American Muslims feel they are paid lower than the general public for their respective jobs. Yet, 22% of British Muslims feel they are paid lower wages than their British counterparts. Now, whether this is real or perceived no one knows – the importance is that this perception exists.
Britain and France lead the world in programs and rhetoric around “diversity” – yet they have more extremist activity and their populations are obviously less assimilated. “Diversity” for the sake of diversity doesn’t work. It removes the identity from society – especially the immigrant portions of that society. And this ties back directly to how immigration works or should work in the US. To be allowed the privilege of staying in the US long-term or the ultimate privilege of becoming a citizen of this great nation, you have to want to be an American. You have to want to learn about what made this country what it is – because THAT my friends is the heart of the American dream. You can go to a dozen countries with little and become successful – that is not particularly an American thing. The American Dream is about having that same ability in a place where people understand that government recognizes your inherent human rights. Where the government is not thought of as benevolent by “granting” you rights you already posses by simply being a child of God. That is what living the American Dream really means – don’t let anyone tell you it is nothing more than the ability to get rich.
Something just came up, I want to leave you with – Although every official in China and Zimbabwe has denied it. There is a rumor that Chinese troops are patrolling the streets of Mukare to assist Robert Mugabe’s efforts to again violently quell any opposition to his government. We can only be thankful that we live in this great nation. This place where dreams truly do come true.
God Bless you and Glod Bless America.
