Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

There has been so much written and said about immigration and how the people coming here are criminals and rapists and anything but acceptable. This applies to all immigrants, or does it? Well if you look at who has come here seeking a better life and couple that with who among them has been a positive influence to our society, you will see that most have been positive versus the negative preached by the right.
One person came here and has built a fortune for himself, continues to be highlighted in the news and seems to feel quite empowered to help destroy our democracy. His country of origin is South Africa and since he is fortunate enough to be very wealthy, feels his voice should be heard even if all he does is tell or repeat lies.
On one side of this issue there is the fact that he came here and has contributed to the nation by innovation and the growing of wealth for himself and for others. The other side is the question of why did he come here to do these things? Perhaps he could not do them where he is from, or he would not have gained as much wealth from his projects there. It is possible that nowhere else could he have hoped to do as well as he has done here, so why when the country that has provided such opportunity now his target to destroy the very thing he came here to find, freedom, opportunity and all that it offers?
How do we test for intentions when someone wants to immigrate? They have to be vetted which means background checked. After that is done we say yes or no as to the person’s entry. The same process is used to fill top level jobs in government and industry and yet we promote some people into positions that they should not have. As an example , the last 3 Justices that were put on the Supreme Court.
When people seek to become members of Congress they go through a process to validate their acceptance by the party they want to represent. At present within both houses of congress we have to wonder who took the day off and put the kindergarten students in charge to make the selections. What we really have to observe from some of the more recent elected members is that “You can’t fix stupid” but apparently you can vote them into office.
The reasons for the lack of qualified, honest and intelligent people not running for Congress may include expense, right at the top of the list, and a history of service, and local support. Having identified those issues we would presume that a history of service would be valuable for letting everyone know where you are coming from. Now if you look at who has been elected to be President then you have to believe nothing matters but money.
Is apathy one of the reasons for the lack of qualified candidates? Another reason is that for many they are already putting in excessive amounts of time just to make ends meet. Support both on the home front and in the public sector may not be easily obtained. At any rate we need to encourage younger, inquisitive, intelligent, progressive thinking people to become part of the steering group to help our nation grow and prosper.
Our history has several people that came here, made a fortune and then made contributions to society that no one ever thought they would do. Carnegie made his fortune in steel and then built libraries. These are the kind immigrants we need, not the ones that make a fortune and then team up with the forces that wish to destroy our democracy.