This is interesting.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070605-092649-8531r.htm

I know we've got some Europeans on the board, as usual I'd like input from folks on the ground about stuff such as this. Chunky, you're British, right? And I know Artep is Dutch, if I recall, one of the countries mentioned in the article. Is there much public discussion about this kind of thing? And if you agree that it's a serious problem, how does one go about fixing it?

-S-

 

Coverage of this type of story is mixed, you get some tabloids from the right that constantly cover the negative aspects of immigration. You get the other extreme as well, when a cabinet minister recenty sugested that length of residency should be one of the factors in evaluating allocation of social housing the left wing papers crucified her.

My own view is that life in the UK is much richer for the diversity immigrants bring. We are all the decendants of immigrants. Our health service, hotels, restauarants, public transport etc would all grind to a halt if it wasn't for the hard working immigrants who staff them.

Th UK is a liitle different to mainland Europe as London is one of the main destinations for the French and German's who are leaving home.

On the subject of welfare I agree it needs reform, we need the safety net for those who can't look after themselves but we do have a lot of lazy bums that are happy to live off the backs of others. I do think working on community projects should be mandatory to get unemployment benefit, if we are going to pay them anyway why not make them work for it? This is a general point on welfare and is not related to imigration.

 

In the case of Germany where it said that more than 50% of young, educated Germans would choose to leave, do you think this will lead to somewhat of a 'brain drain' with more and more of the population being of the undereducated variety?

And I like the idea of welfare recipients having to at least do some community service to receive the assistance. Makes perfect sense. I wonder if it's ever been suggested for the U.S.

-S-

 

That jus pisses the hell out of me. its true, bloody hundreds and hundreds of muslims poor in, never to adobt another culture other than their own, still strongly blving women are lesser to their men and living off the countries success... I see it everyday in my town...

 

"Europe's welfare system is causing a perverse process of population replacement. If the Europeans want to save their culture, they will have to slay the welfare state."

wow! welfare-reform. Sounds rational, sounds reasonable, it even sounds necessary. It'll never get done. Welfare in america has ruined so much, but like a herion-adict, it's tough to reform. Welfare should be a topic on the morality thread. State-sponsored welfare sounds moral, but it is not.

 

Welfare, as a whole makes no sense to me. In the United States at least, there are illegal immigrants making money from our government on welfare. It's really annoying, I'm sure France, Germany, Britain and the others are the same, as well. It's just ridiculous that our governments cater to the foreigners who have no intention to naturalize to the country they're in, and we make it even more possible every year.

Shake said something about them doing community service to receive the money or stamps or whatever, I agree, completely. As it is, my mother who has lived in the United States, born and raised, for 46 years, could not receive welfare a while back when she got fired for something stupid. Whereas the immigrants rarely pay taxes, or pay anything to support themselves, they make minimum wages, live in nice houses, drive nice cars, and eat caviar. Something is wrong.

 

There is absolutely no reason people should be on welfare long term. Helping someone out when they suddenly lose a job or get laid off, fine. But there are people living their lives off the government and not making any kind of worthwhile contribution to society. AND WE CONTINUE TO LET THEM DO IT.

There are always jobs out there. I don't care if you have to go flip burgers at McDonalds or sack groceries. You can get a job. These people are having children just so they can get more welfare money, and its just sad. Then they use the excuse that they can't get just "any" job because it won't support their family. Yet they sit at home and suck off us taxpayers and never lift a finger to better themselves.

I like the idea of having to do community service in order to get their benefits. There should be a strict time limit too. They have a certain amount of time to get off their asses and become a productive member of society, and after that, they are on their own.

This of course applies to capable people. Disabled and the like who can't work can't be expected to make their own ends meet. That is different.

Welfare is a drain on our society, and I think is at least partially responsible for this "dumbing down" of society. It needs to be done away with, even though no politician in this country has the balls to do it.

And to stay on topic...I have no clue why they are ditching Europe. Maybe they are defecting to "greener pastures". I always thought if I had to defect, I would defect to Austrailia.

 

I want to immigrate to Germany, even though I live in the United States

 

nice read