On this Martin Luther King Day as we continue to debate and argue about whether the current White House Resident is an Ignorant Racist, or just merely Racially Ignorant, or Confused and says Silly Things or is really secretly the “Least Racist person ever interviewed” because he reportedly asked “Why do we need people from Shithole Countries like Haiti, El Salvador and Africa?” but then he doesn’t care because the base likes it, the Daily Stormer really likes it and Ann Coulter thinks he’s flirting with her or maybe he didn’t ask it that way and somebody “made it up”, and some people in the room don’t remember hearing it before claiming he didn’t say it like that or something, while others defiantly heard something vile and hateful and their memory hasn’t evolved over it, either way in the midst of all this confusion there is a larger point that is being missed.
Regardless of how he phrased it or what specific words were used, the entire proposal for “Merit Based” immigration goes directly against the founding principles of this nation. It is, quite literally, “UnAmerican.”
In fact, if the policy he’s proposing had been in place 130 years ago, Trump wouldn’t even be an American.
He’d most likely be Donald Drumpf from Bavaria because that’s where his grandfather was from, before he originally left German to escape poverty and then after he returned because his wife became homesick only to be kicked out for draft dodging.
Friedrich Trump, a German, was issued with the document in February 1905, and ordered to leave the kingdom of Bavaria within eight weeks as punishment for having failed to do mandatory military service and failing to give authorities notice of his departure to the US when he first emigrated in 1885.
Roland Paul, a historian from Rhineland-Palatinate who found the document in local archives, told the tabloid Bild: “Friedrich Trump emigrated from Germany to the USA in 1885. However, he failed to de-register from his homeland and had not carried out his military service, which is why the authorities rejected his attempt at repatriation.”
The decree orders the “American citizen and pensioner Friedrich Trump” to leave the area “at the very latest on 1 May ... or else expect to be deported”. Bild called the archive find an “unspectacular piece of paper”, that had nevertheless “changed world history”.
Trump was born in Kallstadt, now in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in 1869. He emigrated to the US aged 16 initially to escape poverty, attracted by the gold rush.
Frederich returned to the U.S. with his wife who was then three-months pregnant with Trump’s father Fred Jr. on a tramp steamer. He was not one of “the Best”, his only skill when he arrived in America was that he had trained as a Barber. It was Fred Jr. who eventually went into the real estate business and began the families wealth. He in turn didn’t exactly marry “the best” when after he met Trump’s eventual mother Scottish immigrant Mary Ann MacLeod, who had been a farmer in her home and came to America to be a domestic servant.
Mary Anne was one of tens of thousands of Scots who travelled to the US and Canada in the early years of the last century looking to escape economic hardship at home.
She first left Lewis for New York in 1930, at the age of 18, to seek work as a domestic servant.
Six years later she was married to successful property developer Frederick Trump, the son of German migrants and one of the most eligible men in New York.
Both of these ancestor of Donald Trump came to America for a better life to escape poverty. They didn’t have amazing skills or a dazzling education. They just had the desire and the heart to live better, and America gave them that chance.
It doesn’t matter that 41% of people over the age of 25 who immigrated to America from Sub-Saharan Africa have a bachelors degree compared to 32% of most immigrants and 30% of the native born Americans. It doesn’t matter that Immigrants aren’t criminals, that Haitians don’t “All Have Aids” or that Nigerians don’t “Live in Huts” that Mexican’s aren’t all Rapists, that Muslims aren’t all terrorist sympathizers who “cheered 9/11” or that Violent Crime by Blacks in Chicago isn’t “on the rise.”
All of those are excuses. Being basically decent and humane shouldn't be considered either or luxury or a risk, it’s part of our responsibility and duty as humans toward each other.
The bottom line is that Trump is trying to turn America in a human business farm, where our people — and particularly any immigrants — are to be rated and vetted based on how useful they are to perpetuating corporate greed and then discarded if found “unworthy.” Human Decency and compassion is optional, or otherwise completely on the back burner. Nevermind inspiring people to reach to their potential and improve themselves, they need to pass muster or else stay out.
It’s a country-club vision of America, high gates around the yard to keep out the riff raff and shithole people.
He says he’s done great things for the economy, but the same number of people who were outside the workforce in 2016, 95 Million, are still outside the workforce in 2018.
The economy did very well during President Trump's first year: 2 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 17 years, accelerating economic growth, booming stock market.
Trump loves to talk about those numbers. But by another measure that he used to talk about a lot -- and has stopped mentioning -- the needle didn't move at all.
During the campaign and early in his presidency, Trump often pointed out how many people were out of the labor force. It's roughly 95 million people, though the numbers change from month to month.
Trump argued that it was a sign of a weak economy run by President Barack Obama.
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The number of Americans out of the workforce is misleading as a gauge of who is and isn't working.
For example, retired people are out of the workforce. They're not counted in the unemployment rate because they don't want a job. The same is true of tens of millions of Americans who are in school, or can't work because they are disabled.
So it's possible for the total number of people out of the workforce to stay more or less the same, even as the overall job market improves.
That 95 Million figure isn’t changing unless millions of retirees and disabled Americans go back to work and millions of students drop out and get a Job. Students, the elderly and the sick are now seen as “shiftless and lazy” because they’re not working. It’s not simply that it’s all racist and bigoted, it’s elitist, where people are only valued by the dollars and cents they can generate for corporations — which is an utterly shallow, selfish, heartless America, one that’s not even slightly “Great” not at all.
Have we no workhouses?
Still he continues to claim his tax cuts are “helping businesses” and “raising wages” arguing that companies like AT&T and Walmart that offered $1000 bonus for which they credit Trump and the GOP.
But that’s not all they’ve done. For example AT&T has also implemented a vast round of layoffs.
Across the Midwest, an estimated 600 workers were notified they were being laid off by the company on December 16, a week before AT&T announced it was doling out $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 of its employees in celebration of the Republican Party’s tax overhaul.
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The announcement came days after the New York Post reported that the company “pink-slipped more than 700 DirecTV home installers.”
On Friday, the Post also reported that AT&T has recently laid off “215 high-skilled technician jobs in nine Southern states” and plans to fire nearly 700 workers in Texas and Missouri beginning in February.
And a Walmart it’s much worse as they have just announced layoff for almost 10,000 workers.
On Wednesday, as news of the bonus announcement was lauded by Trump and Fox News, Walmart abruptly closed down 63 Sam’s Clubs stores. More than 9,000 people lost their jobs. Some only learned about the decision when they showed up to work and found the doors locked.
On Friday, there was news of more pain for Walmart workers. The company confirmed to Business Insider that about 3,500 “co-managers” will be laid off across the country. They will be replaced by new, “assistant manager” positions, which would have a lower salary. The laid off workers will be able to “apply” for these new jobs.
Walmart employees are eligible for the $1,000 bonus only if they’ve worked at the company for 20 years. Most Walmart employees, of course, haven’t worked there that long. Those employees will receive a smaller bonus based on seniority. Walmart didn’t explain exactly how the sliding scale will work, but said the total value of the bonuses will be $400 million. Walmart has about 2.1 million employees, which works out to be an average bonus of about $190.
These are the kinds of jobs that Frederick and Mary Ann might have qualified for when they immigrated — service jobs — except now thousands of them are gone.
Because Trump doesn’t believe in the American Dream, certainly not as dangles 800,000 DACA recipients on a string, while shoving 300,000 Haitians who came to America to escape a divesting earthquake and it’s aftermath as did 200,000 El Salvadorians escaping a Civil War — all of whom have been long enough to put down roots and start families with American born children — right out the door without a single lick of compassion or understanding for their struggles and hopes.
If someone like him had been in the White House when Frederick and Mary Ann came to America shows with wide-eyes dreams — he would have shut them down and sent them back.
Frederick and Mary Ann came to America to escape poverty. People from Syria, Mexico, El Salvador and Haiti come here to escape poverty and the devastation of natural disasters and unnatural war.
He doesn’t know what America is.
America is hope. Or rather, it was...