I attended yesterday's talk at the Discovery Institute by George Gilder on the topic "Is the Blogosphere the Death of the Mainstream Media?". I'm not sure if he quite answered that question, but he made a number of interesting points and I'll link to the audio once it's available online.
The Discovery Institute sponsors a number of blogs on a variety of topics, listed here. One entry that's particuarly relevant to recent local current events -- Yuri Mamchur, a Russian visiting scholar who writes Russia Blog, offers A Legal Non-Immigrant Worker’s View of the Illegal Immigrant Protests
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 14, 2006 11:26 AM | Email ThisAs for the main thesis of this discussion, "Is the Blogosphere the Death of the Mainstream Media?" I'll still stick by my original answer as no. Assuming of course that we are talking about the "Technology" of blogs which is what I think was being spoken about.
I'll be interested in listening to the audio over the weekend. Quite curious what is said.
It's not the technology or medium in which the information is distributed that matters. It's the content.
People will listen to people tapping out messages on hollowed-out logs if they feel that it is providing the information they need.
I can point to the success of talk radio, utilizing a 1920s technology, and the overall profitability of community newspapers which are more than a century old as examples.
Posted by: Reporterward on April 14, 2006 12:36 PMI think George Gilder's answer to the question posed in the talk you attended, "Is the Blogosphere the death of MSM?", is, indeed, no. The history of new communications technologies has been that the old ones survive (newspapers survived radio, and radio survived TV, etc.). But the old systems do lose their dominance, and that is what is happening with the MSM. I think George agrees with that.
Posted by: Bruce Chapman on April 14, 2006 12:53 PMI enjoyed reading the description of what it took for Yuri to immigrate to this country, I appreciate the value of this country even more when I see how hard someone struggles to get here, and that underscores the need for more open immigration. There is no reason why those like Yuri should have to work that hard to get in to the country and it's even tougher for those with no resources who don't win the green card lottery. That's wrong.
Any individual has basic rights to be free, to trade his or her skills with another individual or company and to keep the fruits of those labors as his or her own property. These rights don't come from the US, they come from the nature of being human. And they apply to all humans who are willing to show the same respect to each other, regardless of their skin color, country of origin, etc. As such, anyone who is able, not a criminal, terrorist or otherwise should be free to come to this country and work for anyone else who's willing to offer them a job. This is fair exchange between two free parties, the hallmark of capitalism and the freedom that is the US. It's wrong to prohibit this free exchange for otherwise eligible people. Our government is not the US. The government is merely the agent of the people. Remember, "inalienable rights" that's why Jefferson put that in the Declaration.
As for the lame arguments that there will not be enough jobs for Americans, etc. how does that explain all of the work that immigrants, legal and illegal are doing now? If there were no jobs, there would be no applicants. We are approaching full employment. There are clearly plenty of jobs, and more immigrants and more people mean more opportunity. Population density is another myth. The US is one of the more sparesely populated countries. And there's plenty of rural land (for sale) to expand inward. If density was a bad thing, that wouldn't explain the demand for real estate. Density equals opportunity.
Isolationism is unamerican. We've always allowed immigrants into this country en masse, and there's no reason to stop now. Good hard working opportunists are the essence of America. Bring them on, we need them. And if we make immigration legal, we can properly register and then tax immigrants like every other citizen, and then they will be paying their share for the benefits unlike the current system which does not account for millions of people.
One last note, full citizenship should still require some years to obtain. There is a natural assimilation period for any new person in any new land. It's unfair to allow new arrivals to disenfranchise the votes of current citizens, and thus full citizenship, voting rights, etc. should still require an extended stay, the study and allegiance to our core law and principals, etc.
But there should be no irrational fear of the immigrant, and people like Yuri Mamchur and Yana Khrapko prove that we should all be proud of our immigrant tradition.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 14, 2006 09:38 PMThe US has a tradition of using immigrant labor.
We can rant and rave and say how illegal it is- but you can't deny the fact of it.
People will disagree - but I know we need these hispanic workers - and I am greatful for the contribution they make. Our current unemployment rate is around 5% - usually interpreted as "FULL EMPLOYMENT".
Healthcare, homecare, agriculture, construction, landscaping and food service are but a few of the occupations where they toil. Most citizens and our economy will receive a huge blow, possibly a blow we cannot recover from, if we suddenly decide to strictly enforce laws that were practically ignored for decades.
I am not an anarchist - but "cherry picking" the laws we choose to enforce is nothing new. (Ask a cop lawyer or politician - but they will likely want to keep their comments anonomous and off the record- it doesnt play very well - reality & truth often do not)
Laws after all are made to serve "we the people". It appears by many poster's comments that we are trapped into serving our laws.
I don't deny much need for that. But we have never done it 100% of the time. If you dissect law and study how and when laws are applied throughout history and circumstances I doubt that you will conclude that "yes- at all times we are servants of our laws"
LAWS are tools for government to give order and justice to a society.
It looks like we are going to make some new ones to deal with this issue to serve "we the people" in the best way.
God's laws are not in the same category. His are etched in stone and written in our hearts, mans are written on paper.
Does the Russian bureaucracy apply the same amount of scrutiny to allow entry of needed foreign farm worker as an American intellectual ?
Officially - hell yes.
Unofficially I doubt it.
Do we do this all the time ?
Nope.
But we do it when it serves our interests and needs.