Where else in the world could a million starving Irishmen go and have a chance in life? For those who survived The Great Famine, where else in the world could they go to make a decent life, without the discrimination and prejudice that plagued them in their own land?
Nowadays, it's popular, practically chic, to bemoan the loss of this 'land of opportunity', but the bemoaners haven't talked to any immigrants lately. I work with a man who loves America because he has a good job and always has twenty dollars in his pocket. He doesn't worry about the rains and the corn crop, the bandits on the roads, or whether or not he'll be able to feed his family tonight.
Another colleague slaved away, taking the backbreaking work that no one else wanted in the farms and field of California. Today, his two daughters are attending university, and the youngest is well on her way to success. He struggled so that his children could have the opportunities that he never had.
A third came to work with his father, to send money back home to the rest of the family. By September, the rest of the family will be here, permanent residents in a country that offers hope and, surprisingly enough, opportunity. It's there for these men, who see what the bemoaners miss in all their wailing.
It's what you make of it in America. Come looking for handouts and sympathy and the Ulster-Scots Presbyterian influence will flair up. No free lunch, do it yourself, but if you do, well then, good luck to you. You can make a go of it, but chances are, it won't be you reaping big rewards. It'll fall to your children and grandchildren, down the line, but who would begrudge a bit of success to the future generations?
No opportunity any more? When you're so far away from the source, it's hard to see through the immigrants' eyes. Course, if they'd only ask them, but a good whinge would be ruined by facts. So raise a glass and toast to the rebels of 1776, the men of Enlightenment's age, who shed their blood so that we could all be pursuing life, liberty and a bit of happiness.
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