DADvocate

During the early 70's I had a couple of friends who became involved in Gestalt psychology, one as a psychologist and the other as a follower/seeker. The psychologist led a Gestalt therapy group of which the other was a member. Being talked to in the lingo of Gestalt just about drove me crazy. My one friend would often begin a statement that he had been "imagining" something. When I finally told him he seemed to be imaging a lot of things lately, he explained that, according to Gestalt, if you thought something regarding someone else's behavior, etc. but had not verified your thoughts then you were imaging.

One aspect of all this that made sense was "forming a Gestalt." As I understood this it meant being able to look at the whole of a situation or situations and seeing how everything was interrelated and such. It seems that we need to form a Gestalt concerning immigration. Presently, too much focus is being directed to the specific issues involved, closing borders, amnesty or not, guest workers, etc. But the issues go far beyond the obvious.

President Bush has given his speech to America how to handle illegal immigration. Congress is working hard to do almost nothing while trying to appear to do a great deal. Some may say I'm cynical. Maybe so but past history is on my side.

But some questions continue to be unaddressed. How long can the U.S. support Mexico's weak economy? The majority of illegal immigration exists only because the economy in Mexico fails to provide even a sustenance living for a large portion of its population. While many argue that illegal immigrants are driving much of our economy, illegal immigrants also send our cash to Mexico and over burden our social, health and governmental resources.

Curiously, liberals who frequently support any environmentalist cause that pops up fail to see how a burgeoning population threatens our natural resources. Already the mighty Colorado River shrinks to a trickle before it reaches the ocean. When water, an abundant resource, is in short supply, how long can other resources. If you need more wood to build houses, how do you save the forests? To light and heat those houses we need more electricity. We'll need more gas for more cars. All this leads to increased pollution decreased natural habitats and all our societal systems being pushed closer to their limits.

All this and there is still the issue of this country belongs to its citizens. Why should we give it away? Our obligations of humanitarian support to the rest of the world have real limits. Government showed quite convincingly during the past hurricane season its lack of preparedness to deal with predictable disasters. Government on all levels needs to focus on the needs and wishes of its citizens first.

Liberals apparently fail to see that continued influx of large conservative Catholic populations will eventually erode their political base. (Although, presently liberals believe Hispanics will increase the liberals' political base.) A large proportion of Hispanic immigrants oppose abortion, gay marriage, and other liberal causes. Illegal immigration does have some positives.

John Gibson at Fox News pointed out that "half of all babies in America under five are minorities and the majority of those were Hispanic." Good (conservative) Catholics tend to have large families. But most of all, this statistic points out that 50-60 years down the road we may well be a predominantly Hispanic country. I don't find this too worrisome because I believe that most Hispanics want to and will assimilate into American society. While Cinco de Mayo may become a larger celebration, we will still be Americans. Many groups have ethnic celebrations.

Lou Dobbs, at CNN.com, lambastes Bush's speech. Actually, he lambastes Bush, Republicans and Democrats.

Both political parties are complicit with corporate America and special interests in placing so-called immigration reform ahead of border and port security. That mindlessness speaks volumes about our elected officials' commitment to the national interest and the weight and influence of corporate America over both parties.

In these two sentences Dobbs sums up the problems in our Federal government, a lack of commitment to the national interest, i.e. the best interests of the country's citizens, but a great commitment to corporate American, the campaign funds they receive from corporate America and a to great focus on corporate profitability.

One consequence that no one else seems to have noticed is the impact of Hispanic immigration on the average height of adult Americans. At first I thought of this jokingly, and still do. But, surprisingly, I found evidence of a factual basis for this. If you Google for average height U.S. countries, you will find limitless links pointing out how other countries are catching and passing the U.S. in average height. Every theory I found tied this to the increase in junk food consumption in the U.S. But I wonder. The table on this page at Wikipedia shows an interesting statistic.

Male	Female	Group
5 ft 10.2 in	5 ft 4.6 in	20-39 non-Hispanic whites
5 ft 10 in	5 ft 4.6 in	20-39 non-Hispanic blacks
5 ft 6.8 in	5 ft 2.3 in	20-39 non-Hispanic whites

Maybe improved nutrition will increase average heights for Mexican Americans as time goes on. But I wonder if all the health experts considered immigration when trying to explain the slow down in increases in height in America.

Clearly, comic relief excepted, many issues face this country and illegal immigration poses a more complex challenge than being related. But controlling our borders stands essential in our security and autonomy. That so few Senators realize this disturbs me.

I suppose that many of my concerns are based in feeling that too many things in our country are floundering out of control with little concern for the future impact. We're like a runaway train barely staying on the tracks and the politicians keep telling us, "Look what good time we're making." We need to slow down, decide where we are going and how we can get there. To a ship without a port, no wind is favorable.