Addendum to Red Coat Citizens

So, I contradict myself.  That was proud response of Emerson when challenged by a listener about his remarks.  And I myself contradict myself, which I admit both sheepishly, and like Emerson, proudly. His admission was accompanied by a sneer, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”  I hope to be less sneeringly proud than he by invoking instead the image of the wise men and the elephant.  It is a contradiction to say that an elephant is like a fan, and then to say the elephant is like a column. But the apparent contradiction comes from not seeing the whole elephant, for the elephant is both like a fan and like a column.

The particular way I contradict myself this time (there are many other times) is that in a prior post I praised permanent worker visas as an important part of immigration reform.  In my “Red Coat” post I pointed out that permanent worker visas could create a class of “semi-citizens” which Jefferson warned us against as contributing to a denial of rights and consequent social turmoil.  I believe that both points are valid.  Immigration reform requires both permanent worker visas and a reasonable path to citizenship.  Some immigrant workers remain non-citizens by choice; if they so choose, that should not limit their participation in the American work force when we so desperately need new workers.  But if immigrants want to become citizens, the path should be there for them to do so.

I hope those of you who enjoy my posts are alert to my contradictions.  Sometimes they are actually signposts pointing the way to a whole elephant that requires a little search to find.  Of course, sometimes they are merely my inconsistencies.