Brushfire of Freedom
The Conservative Cowboy
Note: Originally published August 6th, 2009 at Brushfire Sparks.
Now to the biggest issue about immigrants that now refuse to assimilate into the American culture and that is the simple fact that many refuse to become citizens of this country. By living permanently in a host country without becoming a citizen is the ultimate lack of assimilation. The immigrant is in turn refusing to denounce the citizenship of their country of origin and become a citizen of the current country. Now many countries allow for a dual citizenship, but that would lead to a lack of nationalism that is so important in the current international marketplace. Nationalism is important when there are international companies in the marketplace because that drives synergy in the workplace.
An international company could have offices all around the world with many different cultures in each office, with a sense of nationalism everyone feels as though they bring something important to the table. There is a pride in one’s country and a feeling that they can help make the company as a whole successful. Please do not confuse nationalism with a close minded view of the other cultures and nations around the world. With this nationalism there must be an open minded embrace of diversity as well. But having a pride in ones country produces the kind of competition that creates innovation, and that innovation today is on a worldwide scale. Nationalism, however, cannot be achieved unless immigrants assimilate to the point of fully embracing their new country.
By becoming a citizen of their new country an immigrant sends a message to the host countries current resident that they are willing to join the new country fully. It sends a message that they are willing to abide by the laws of the host country as they are written, not force the host country to change their laws to accommodate the immigrant. Becoming a citizen creates a feeling of unity between the immigrant and the other residents of the host country, a unity that will allow compromise between the different cultures and a blending of those cultures. Neither culture is better than the other culture when there are shared values and beliefs. Even if the only shared value between the cultures is the fact that everyone is a citizen of this country.
Here in America we have shifted our beliefs from a melting pot mentality to that of a tossed salad. Meaning that we do not need to blend our cultures together but cling to our original nationality. The arguments for this shift are discrimination and ethnic pride. In reality we are perpetuation discrimination by not blending together and actually separating us from our other fellow Americans. Ethnic pride can be felt just as easily when we melt together because that is something that no one can take away from an individual. America must go back to a melting pot mentality in order to embrace our diversity and help our culture grow. Assimilation is the key to that melting pot mentality. Immigrant assimilation is the solution to many of the social problems that we face in this country because it would bring back the unity, pride and nationalism that this country has been missing for quite some time. It would also prove to the current residents of this country that the immigrants hold the same sense of pride in America, a belief that we can all share.
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