Okay, so it's not quite fan-mail. It's more like an email forward.... but I had to answer it because it fucking pissed me off.
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Fwd: Joe vs Jose
JOE LEGAL vs. JOSE ILLEGAL
> You have two families: "Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal".
> Both families have two parents, two children, and live in California .
>
> Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.
> Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".
>
> Ready? Now pay attention...
> Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.
>
> Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or
> $31,200.00 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has
> $31,200.00.
>
> Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.00.
>
> Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has
> $31,200.00.
>
> Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.
>
> Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
>
> Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $9,631.00.
> Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose Illegal pays out that $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
>
> Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.00.
>
> Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance!" and still has $31,200.00.
> Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.
>
> Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities,
> gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.
>
> Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
> Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.
>
> Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school. Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.
>
> Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.
>
> Do you get it, now?
>
> If you vote for or support ANY politician that supports illegal aliens...YOU are part of the problem! It's way PAST time to take a stand for America and Americans! VOTE 'EM ALL OUT IN 2010!!!!!
>
> What are you waiting for?
> Send this on!!!!!!!!!!!!
> IN GOD WE TRUST
See, just when I thought I'd cleared my life, or at least my email address, of the crazies that send that kind of shit, one pops up. Yeah, I typically end up burning plenty of bridges by hitting "Reply All," but... if I don't, who will?
So, what did I say?
I'm proud to say that I support all people, whether or not the imperfect governments of this world have branded them "illegal" or "legal" on an artificial basis of geographic borders.
If we are to trust in God, as the end of this email forward suggests, shouldn't we also trust in, and therefore care for his creation, regardless of whether the party in question is a Mexican, an American, or even a dog or a parrot? Certainly that mission is far more important than enforcing a line that corrupt politicians have drawn in the sand to divide us.
Perhaps before we condemn an estimated 14 million people living in this country, we should mentally walk a mile in their shoes and consider what we would do in their situation. Would you literally do anything -- even break the law, cross international borders, and accept pay under the table -- to get money for food if your family was starving? I would hope so. Then we should question the kind of social and governmental structures in the world that makes people so desperately poor that they are willing to not only break the law but risk life and limb to help their families to a better situation. Is it really the fault of the "illegal" immigrants, or is it the fault of those who subscribe to economic, social and governmental systems that put our fellow humans into such dire straits?
Please don't clutter my inbox with any more of this racist, hateful filth. And don't attach God's name to it.... that's just disgusting.
I didn't even get into fact-checking, because facts don't matter to the people who believe this slop.
Did my reply make some people mad? Probably. Do I care? Not in the least.
Update!
I got an anonymous response:
Gotcha: Part of the problem, also a knee-jerk and tired response devoid of the realities of even simple economics. Keep drinking the Cool-Aid, but could you do it a little faster? The huddled masses are needy for your spot on the Earth ....
Being supportive doesn't mean blindly handing out care and protection as fast as possible to as many as possible for as long as they ask. It's simply not sustainable. Someone with an 8th grade education can figure that out.
REALLY want to make a difference? Plan. Do the math. Want to be charitable? Wonderful! Maybe you'll inspire more to do the same, but use your head when you use your heart instead of turning it off. Come to think of it, God DID give you both - try using them together. Far more people will be supported. Then keep it going - ensure they know how to help themselves, AND that they're willing to share in the responsibility. See, in THAT way even MORE helping is possible. Neat, huh? The part where we just keep handing out to the same individuals over and over has to stop. There's a great term more people need to learn: it's called Tough Love. Look it up some. The unfortunate reality is that quite a few people need a good swift kick in the butt to participate. Some only once in their life, others on a regular basis, but ignoring that it's also a part of the Human Condition doesn't make it go away.
Want to live here? Pay taxes. No, not blindly. Be a part of creating more efficient support structures and only those that are really needed and the support will go a lot farther. Learn from the past, get rid of the fat, and keep moving forward.
People that refuse to help themselves need the kick in the butt. There are a shocking number of human beings who, offered the chance of a job and a better life for themselves and their children or to continue to "Work the System" will persistently choose the latter. ONE such person is incredibly expensive - it's pure cost, no contribution. As they have little else to occupy their time they tend to have children, so we create a loop where we pay them to reproduce. I work in these programs, I see it daily. If you're willing to settle for bare-minimum but free, it works. The expense to the county and state is mind-numbing, and the situation perpetuates itself to a great extent.
Education and responsible living are the only way a family, township, city, county, state or country can hope to survive over a long period of time. Charity is both a blessing a virtue, but dreamily running down the streets of the impoverished, throwing money in every direction, only results in greater issues.
That's not help - it's part of the problem.
Doesn't make a lot of sense. So I responded again, because I just can't help myself!:
This is an odd, (perhaps intentionally) anonymous email that argues against human sloth and says nothing about the argument at hand, which is whether one hard working human being is more or less valuable than another equally hard working human being based upon the status of nationality and citizenship. Indeed, it is not a question of economics but a question of compassion, and certainly the American people are not so impotent to lack the ability to adjust an economic system in support of a humanitarian ideal.
What's the most telling, though, is that a call for human compassion is rebuffed at the very beginning of the response, as being equivalent to devout membership in an extremist cult ("Keep drinking the [K]ool-Aid..."). Working for the benefit of fellow humans is considered a level of insanity similar to poisoning oneself and hoping to hitch a ride on a flying saucer that's following a comet? Not only is this a defeatist, me-first attitude, but it truly speaks to the failures of divisive thinking.
Bleh. I have no life, obviously.