A huge debate in Congress about whether people who have come to our country illegally should have the right to purchase health care insurance has prompted me to offer my two cents worth.
The growth and success of the United States has been driven by people who have immigrated to America, most all of them were seeking a better way of life, its true that some came to our shores against their will, but even those people, for the most part, found a better life than they experienced in their homeland.
Irish, German, Italian, Norwegians, Swedes and many other Europeans along with slaves from countries in Africa were early immigrants to our shores, they provided labor for the demands of a country that was booming because of opportunities provided by the foresight of our founding fathers, those early settlers who had the vision to realize the power of people to succeed when they are provided opportunity.
Some of the early settlers in America were indentured slaves; they were bound by a contract for a period of time to a master who, in essence, owned them.
America has dealt in slavery from its beginning but few Americans realize that slavery still exists here.
Slavery was not condoned by the founders that fashioned our constitution but compromises involving greedy special interests and an economy driven by a strong need for physical labor allowed slavery to continue for many years.
Special interests and their influence on Congress allow defacto slavery to continue even today.
The issue of illegal immigrants in America is being perpetuated by those special interests who want to keep illegal people in bondage in order to profit from low wages.
Nothing has really changed since the amendment to our constitution that freed slaves (except to find ways to ignore it) and nothing will change until we close our borders and enforce the law.
Slavery is defined as "bondage to a master or household" so the majority of the early immigrants to our country could be considered slaves since most had little choice but to work as slaves, or be employed by slave masters in companies seeking people who would work for low wages, much the same as today when illegal immigrants come to our country seeking a better life.
Chinese people immigrated to America during the time the country was expanding to the west and many were employed building railroads.
Chinese immigrants were treated much the same as black slaves, the only difference was that they made a choice to come here.
The success of the American experiment was due largely to labor provided by people immigrating to our shores, but more than that it provided opportunity for many of those same people to elevate themselves from slavery by becoming entrepreneurs, or what some might consider modern day slave masters.
Many changes have occurred through the evolution of the United States and, other than the illegal immigrants from Mexico and other South American countries, few people are enslaved by their employer (though many may feel they are).
The biggest change we have seen in recent years is the destruction of opportunity for those who would like to lift themselves up from a perceived sense of slavery.
The view of many, those who want to junk the capitalist free enterprise system in favor of central government solutions, is mostly responsible for the killing of opportunity in America.
The big question Americans must ask themselves is this, would you rather be enslaved by your employer who you can tell to "take this job and shove it", or enslaved by your government, with no options except to find another country.
Back to the original question, whether illegal immigrants should be able to purchase health insurance, it does make sense economically because the more people who participate to spread the risk the cheaper insurance rates are.
However, the United States has laws and unless enforced they have no worth, when anyone who breaks the law is rewarded for doing so, what message does that send to future law breakers.
Because of bad government policy since the early 20th century that has resulted in productive companies with better paying jobs leaving America, the United States does not need immigration for low paid, low skilled jobs, it has plenty of people in the labor pool to fill those jobs, but most are unwilling because of a feeling of entitlement that has been created by politicians attempting to maintain a very prized position on their throne.
A recent news story about the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, which showed her connection to a slave five generations ago, should fill all Americans with a feeling of pride about how America has dealt with the black slavery issue, but America still has people enslaved because of pure politics and greed.
As soon as we get rid of our guilt feeling about race and slavery and realize that most all people perceive themselves as a slave at some point in their lives, and if we bond together to fix our income tax system that allows politicians to keep some people in bondage, we can restore the lost opportunity for all people in America.
American Citizens must realize that education and involvement in our Democracy is the only thing that has even a remote chance of restoring our liberty and fixing our financial mess.