Agent 6 has forwarded a 2004 speech by three-time Colorado governor Dick Lamm which has recently gone viral. Titled "I Have a Plan to Destroy America", it reflects on the dangers of multiculturalism and pandering to the minorities and the underclasses. It's longer than my usual posts, but pertinent excerpts are well worth reading, not just for Americans but for Canadians and Britons too.
Mr. Lamm was talking about
Mexifornia, a book by Victor Davis Hanson, explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal - was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream. Here's what Governor Lamm had to say:
"First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: 'The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.' Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.
"Second, invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.
"Third, we could make the United States an 'Hispanic Québec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the
Atlantic Monthly recently: 'The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.'
"I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities.
"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high. school.
"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.
"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship and divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together.
"Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell.
E Pluribus Unum -- From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo.
"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking in the 16th century. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate."Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: Because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them.
"Lastly, I would censor Victor Davis Hanson's book,
Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."
I disagree with Mr. Lamm's (and Mr. Hanson's) thoughts on bilingualism. In western (meaning white) countries, it can be made to work. Canada, Belgium and Switzerland come to mind. Yet it cannot be denied that Canada and Belgium are periodically wracked be fierce debates and divisions about "distinct societies" and special rights for minority language and cultural groups.
I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Lamm's comment on free speech. In the culture of political correctness that infects the USA, Canada and Britain today, we can no longer call a spade a spade. Anyone who tells the truth about the problems caused in our society by certain ethnic groups is immediately labelled a "xenophobe" or "racist" or "fascist". There is nothing more intolerant than a self-righteous liberal!
The West is in huge trouble, drowning in a tsunami of multiculturalism and political correctness. Future historians will surely write that our tolerance was our downfall.
