I’ve been reading a terrific novel, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, about a mother and son fleeing Mexico’s narcotraficantes, trying to get to Los Estados Unidos. It is an excellent book for this moment, a reminder—for me—of the tension between politics and policy. I’ve long been a fervent supporter of immigrants and immigration. These are the purest Americans, a living reminder of who our ancestors were and why they came here—for the freedom to work, to prosper, in safety. The recent waves of Asians, Africans and Latinos are a fulfillment of America’s unique interracial promise. The Latinos, in particular, have been exemplary…their arrival in New York, in droves, saved the city from bankruptcy in the 1970s and 1980s.
They come with a cost. They need health care and education. But their benefits, the service in menial jobs as they assimilate, and the seriousness with which they take the American dream, more than balance that out. They are a reminder of the grinding discipline too many of the rest of us have lost. I once did a story for New York Magazine about a Haitian girl who was a math genius. She had been given a full ride at MIT. Her mother was very proud, but worried: “I’m afraid she’ll start acting like the Americans,” she said—meaning she wouldn’t work as hard as she had been. Haitians, in particular, were grinders: they had a higher workforce participation rate than any other ethnic group, including caucasians.
But Donald Trump makes barbarians of us all. He descended into our lives dissing illegal immigrants as rapists and murderers; he unleashed a torrent of anti-Latino prejudice in our lesser precincts. He made the Southern Border a powerful issue, perhaps the biggest challenge Joe Biden is facing in 2024.
And there really is a problem. Two problems, actually. The situation at the border—especially the asylum requests by migrants fleeing the narcos—has gotten way out of hand. American Dirt reminded me of the desperate sadness of their stories…and I had needed reminding: I had slipped too far into my political head, thinking of extreme “solutions” to the crisis; I had sacrificed some humanity in the process. I hate Trump for pushing me in that direction. I still believe the border needs to be shut down for a time, in order to stop the tide and relieve the chaos—and, yes, for domestic political reasons, too. I can not imagine why Joe Biden hasn’t addressed this issue more forcefully. But I’m chastened by the realization that I’ve compromised my principles for pragmatic political reasons. The most important priority now is to beat the barbaric Trump, and if that requires trimming our sails, so be it..
The other problem, the more important one, is what’s going on in Mexico and the anarcho-narco-states of Central America. I love Mexico. I love the culture, the food, the people (who speak a Spanish that is comprehensible, and sweet, to my ear). It is now our most important trade partner. But it has become a lousy neighbor. It seems clear that there is an unholy alliance between the government and the narcos; investigators are a few short steps away from implicating the departing Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obredor as a recipient of cartel cash. (He will be replaced in May, in an election featuring two women candidates. Fingers crossed, but expectations low.)
So what do we do about Mexico? And Guatemala and Honduras and Venezuela, and all the rest, where the governments have become criminal enterprises. That’s why so many migrants are trying to get here. They fear their sons will be recruited—drafted, on penalty of death—by the narcos and that their daughter will be raped. These are countries, led by Mexico, who are enabling the fentanyl and cocaine traffic that feeds our excessive demand. Taken together—and adding the factor of proximity—this a national security threat far more serious than anything happening in the Middle East, especially since we’re awash in fossil fuels these days. (I’m also reading Steve Coll’s excellent book about our stupid, oil-based doings in Iraq, The Achilles Trap. Steve will be a guest on our Night Owls #12 podcast next week.)
In the past, relations with our southern neighbors have wobbled between thudding, violent overreach and ignoring them completely. Recent U.S. administrations have tried to “tilt” America’s foreign policy focus toward Asia. Okay, but perhaps it’s time to give the Western Hemisphere more attention and emphasis, too. That means sending more of our best diplomats, military and police thinkers, and AID funds to the region. That means being a better, friendlier neighbor—but also a stricter one.
And Speaking of American Dirt…
I started reading it to remedy my own tilt away from the border, even though I remembered there was some controversy attached to the book. Was it plagiarism? Mistaking fiction for fact? Some legitimate literary crime? No! It was the worst, stupidest form of politically incorrect nonsense: Cummins was taken to task because she was not Latina—she did havea Puerto Rican grandmother, but that wasn’t enough for the identistas—and therefore didn’t have the standing to write about Central Americans. It was, the critics claimed, a case of “cultural appropriation.”
To which I scream: Bolshoi! American Dirt is a splendid, gut-wrenching book. Who wrote it matters not a whit. Fiction has no ethnicity; it only has emotional truth, or not. This book did the most important thing a novel can do: It reminded me of my better self.
Good News in Education
I know, I know, I whine about education too much, particularly the depredations of the teachers unions. But there’s good news, too. Two must-read columns in The Washington Post today:
One by my old and esteemed colleague Josh Tyrangiel about an artificial intelligence system that can provide individualized, custom-tailored learning to young people (and even some old people like me, who are learning junkies)
The other, a plea by Daniel Pink for higher teacher salaries—starting at $100,000 per year. The current average is in the low $60s. This would be expensive, but worth it: the status and competitiveness of teaching as a profession would be raised. More talented people would want to do it. (I’d add a required two year Teach-For-America-style apprenticeship before the big bucks were dispersed.) Happily, Pink adds two requirements attached to the additional cash: a longer school year (and day, with more supervised study halls, I’d add) and more accountability from teachers. In other words, the bad or burned-out ones could be dismissed. Of course—I’m sorry, I just can’t let this go—the teachers unions are opposed to both proposals. They want money for nothing—no reform, no accountability—and summers free.
Republican Crazy
Another nutty, disgusting week for Congressional Republicans. Ah Jim Jordan, Jim Jordan, such a constant fool you are. Your attempt to impeach Joe Biden has collapsed. Much of it was based on a Russian disinformatia-spewing source. And yet, Jordan presses on, arguing “the facts haven’t changed” even though facts have changed; they’ve evaporated. Ah well, Democrats litigate. Republicans hyperventilate. Their silly attempt to get rid of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will disappear in the Senate, too. The things they do for Orange Jesus. What a waste of time and money and civility.
Must Reads
Sully on Navalny. Trump’s celebration of arch-villain Putin is, well, trumped by Navalny’s class and courage and humor. Andrew is in high dudgeon here, and beautifully so. Great phrase: Putin’s “diorama of deceit.”
Dexter Filkins on the vile Matt Gaetz in The New Yorker. Actually, Dexter Filkins—who did heroic work in Iraq and Afghanistan—on anything he chooses to write about. The only “cultures” he “appropriates” involve intelligence and humanity.
It represents emotional truth--which is what good novels do. It is what Dickens did. And it reminded me to mix some empathy in with my practical, close-the-border politics.
Not all immigrants who came here were allowed in. Roughly twenty percent failed to be accepted in Elis Island or Angel Island. The immigrants were either so poor they would become public wards, their character was certainly questionable, normally gamblers, prostitutes, and such, or they were ill to a degree that they were not allowed in.
If one looks back at American History, there is a common thread, any time the foreign born population exceeds ten percent of the total population, immigration becomes a very political issue. The higher the percentage, the higher the tensions in the country have become. The present is no different, alas.