Amen.

The most productive Americans have long and typically been third generation immigrants.
 

monster wrote:

I'm an immigrant too.  What can I say.  In ur cuntry steelin ur jobz.;)

I believe in human nature and that the majority of people are moral, fair and decent. And also that humans tend to go with the flow. We can't change the psychopaths and assholes, but we can just ignore them, do the best we can, lead by example, act with integrity , and we'll be alright.

Concur.

I'm a moth?  Mindlessly moving towards the bright shiny?

We came here because America needed specialized engineers and offered an unrefusable deal.  And we wanted to see the world.  I was not that engineer, but I've hardly leeched off the state since I've been here.  Or were you only talking about the "other type" of immigrant?

I find the whole anti-immigrant thing repulsive but people living in Texas, Arizona, and Southern California have a point when they say they're the ones having to deal with it. I was told every Mexican on the run from Mexican Law enforcement heads to LA. A different picture than the couple with small children that were so desperate they walked 1000 miles. We have plenty in PA working the mushroom farms. I had one hit and run my car and when I caught him the car owner said the perp didn't have permission to use the car so the insurance company walked away. It got complicated. The judge ordered him to pay, his lawyer said he didn't have it. So the judge ordered him to pay the court monthly installments and they would forward it to me. God only knows how much all that paperwork would cost the taxpayers. After one payment he suddenly had the money to pay the balance. Hmm.

I read this, which may apply to the generations you spoke of...
"Turnings
A First Turning is a period of renewal; one in which a historical crisis has ended. The populace has risen to the occasion, thrown off tyranny and conquered social, political and economic tribulation. Having done so, they now create a renewal, based on hard work, personal responsibility and moral integrity.
 
A Second Turning occurs a generation later, when the rewards of a First Turning have resulted in prosperity and stability. Those new adults who have grown up during a First Turning will be well-off and will seek to pursue high-mindedness and social concerns. Along the way, they will also pursue self-indulgence. (A deterioration begins.)
 
In a Third Turning, again a generation later, complacency sets in. Politically, those individuals who are sociopathic (a clinical aberration, estimated at about 4% of any society at any given time) tend to rise in political spheres, replacing the older generation of responsible people. They tend to raise taxes, increase social welfare programs and increase government spending in every way – really, any excuse to seize increased power over the populace.
 
In a Fourth Turning, again a generation later, power having been seized, the sociopaths seek total power – the elimination of all freedoms, to be replaced by totalitarian rule."