Frank's Musings

The vibrancy and leading innovation of the U.S. has always been the result of the character of its residents. They are the product of courageous self-fulfillment sought by immigrants who (either personally or genetically) made the distinctive decision to uproot their lives and transplant their futures in a more promising political, intellectual, or entrepreneurial environment.

Life in their new country is not a zero-sum game. In fact, the incumbent residents of America, who usually continue to display their own explorative heritage, widely benefit from the invigoration the society continually receives from new arrivers.

 A few short-sited malcontents may advocate raising barriers against those they view as usurpers of the advantages they themselves enjoy, if only because of the head start their ancestors gave them. What they ignore, however, is the dependence of their enviable well-being on the repeated nourishment their community consumes from newcomers.