What is Digg?147 Comments
- GeneralJoe, on 10/12/2007, -27/+86Its probably True,
I went to LA for a trip and had to stay in East LA,
Reminded me of a 3rd world country. Ive been to Mexico before and it reminds me of the slumz in mexico just a little bit better.
AMERICA NEEDS to stop helping other countries and help themselves. - finbec, on 10/12/2007, -8/+48@GMorgan
Wow....talk about pulling statistics straight out of your ass.... - Cam_86, on 10/12/2007, -7/+38GMorgon, no ones arguing against immigration. Its illegal immigration that's the problem. For every one legal immigrant who moves into America, there are at least 20 illegal ones slipping in. America simply cant handle the massive influx of new residents...
- canewediggit, on 10/12/2007, -29/+55i live in miami so i'll chime in here. first off, dude is an *****. there, now that that's off my chest........
because some rich white guy from a rich white suburb in a ski resort town sees a bunch of color, he thinks, 3rd world. we have diversity here from a variety of cultures that make miami a city like no other. now maybe he doesn't like going to the beach and seeing brazillian girls, or going out to the corner shop and getting a cafecito, etc, but i do. maybe he doesn't realize we have are country's 2nd largest international financial center, because all those immigrants just stash their money in their mattresses, right? immigration makes miami one of 3 cities i would choose to live in america.
that said, we have do have our issues, and many of them are 3rd worldish. we have a ***** job market for a city of our size and there is a massive income disparity. it is a very have/have not environment. crime rate sucks. and i'll agree that english needs to be pushed harder in the schools and in society. but ,"``Frankly, many of these areas could have been located in another country. " is exactly why i love miami. nyc gets little italy, san fran gets chinatown, we got little havana.
to the congressman- go back to your ski lodge. - taylorhayward, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24Doctor: What you need is a good, long rest. I suggest Florida.
Homer: Florida? But that's America's wang!
Doctor: They prefer, "The Sunshine State." - kidendless, on 10/12/2007, -8/+31unlawful immigration, violent crime AND the miami dolphins! a trifecta of misery, really.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22A Banana Republic... corruption and all...
He is correct, and I LIVE in Miami! - hipnerd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25Try the Appalachian Mountains or rural Mississippi if you want to see some Third World living up close. You don't need to interject race, nationality or immigration status to find abject poverty in America.
- ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+26I'm a far-right liberal with a capital S (for socialist).
My opinion? We really need to start enforcing our immigration laws. Now. Right now.
Here's the deal. Most developing countries reach ZPG (zero population growth) naturally. It's an equilibrium achieved, I suppose, when child birth and death rates become stable, when quality of life and education increase and going forth and multiplying becomes a choice rather than a necessity driven by traditional ideas and simple biological need.
There is a huge disparity between the birth rates of American-born citizens and immigrants, and the interesting thing is this is regardless of ethnicity. African-American, Caucasian-American, Asian-American, Latin-American, you are going to have less kids on average than an immigrant family.
That means, when a country's citizens would naturally slide toward ZPG, which is basically an excellent measure of environmental and economic equilibrium, the constant addition of high-birth-rate, low-economic-strength groups destabilizes the equation. The economy slides downward.
This by itself in large quantities is annoying, if not dangerous, but it gets worse. Essentially, those in low-birth-rate, high-economic-strength (rich) groups rely on low-economic-strength (poor) groups to provide their services and manufacture. The more desperate the poor group, the less they are willing to accept for work, the less that the rich have to pay for work, the richer they get. The less the poor are willing to accept for work and the rich are willing to pay, the further down the economic scale that borderline groups will slip.
We have stop-gap measures for this, namely minimum wage laws which prevent the creation of permanent near-slave castes and the partial assurance of living wages. Furthermore, welfare prevents these groups from starving to death, especially if they are willing to work but are not satisfied by our minimum wage laws. And we can control the influx of poor groups through immigration laws that allow equilibrium to fight back from the influx of poor groups. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants are beyond our stop-gap measures and are actually sought out for their inability or unwillingness to abide by our stop-gap measures. They are not just a constantly inflowing slave caste, they are essentially invisible.
Now, immigration isn't bad, and a changing complexion of this society is a natural process of globalization, multiculturalism, and simple growing cosmopolitanism. To that end, the remark that Miami is a third-world country is a little stupid. Is New York City less American than Lebanon, Ohio? Is Los Angeles less American than Lubbock, Texas?
The loudest voices in the immigration issue are both enemies of a progressive immigration policy. Neither one knows what they are doing to this country, both open borders and America first people. That pisses me off the most. The ethnocentrists (both Latinos who want an Open Border with Mexico but not the other 180+ countries and the Anglos who want closed borders to preserve their "American heritage") are the worst, but the lackadaisical "let's just throw the doors open to everybody" people also annoy me to a far lesser degree because they don't know how bad things can get. - adamkhel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21I'm from Miami, originally an immigrant (from a third world country), and even I admit that Miami is just like a third world country! It's not a racist or bigoted thing to say, sorry, it's just the damn truth!
It has nothing to do with what language is spoken there, it's more to do with how business and politics are run. If you pick up a Hiassen novel, you'll think it's fiction, but if you're FROM South Florida, you'll quickly realize Hiassens novels are just commentary on what happens in South Florida.
-A - GeneralAntilles, on 10/12/2007, -3/+231st World: US, its allies and close associates
2nd World: USSR, its allies and close associates
3rd World: Unaligned countries
3rd world doesn't actually refer to a countries wealth (or lack thereof), but to its political alignment during the Cold War. It's just that all 3rd world countries are *****, so 3rd world became synonymous with a crappy place to live. - rodtrent, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21I've been to places in the U.S. like that. You don't have to leave the country to get Third World exposure anymore -- you sometimes don't have to even leave town. Just drop by your local Motel 8 and chat with the staff.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19@jamessavik
I'm sure Mr. Tancredo was solely responsible for the actions of a couple of ***** up rich kids that killed a lot of people. I mean, because that happened, Littleton, CO should only be concerned with mass murder, right? - caleberx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17I have to agree. It is a mess in miami.
- jjk5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I think it was Conan who was talking about all the retirees down there:
"Florida: God's Waiting Room" - anasazi, on 10/12/2007, -8/+20why apologize?
he's right - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Crockett and Tubbs will take care of things...
- halavais, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Oh, noooo. Not a second language! Is your brain exploding yet?
- Muyoso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11The thing that pisses me off is that Mexico has the 12th largest GDP in the world. They themselves have the military on their souther border, and deny anyone from illegally entering the country. The Mexican government assists people in coming into the USA because Mexicos LARGEST INDUSTRY IS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Yes, you read that correctly, the most money made from any industry is the money that is sent back to Mexico from people ILLEGALLY in the USA. It just slightly beats out their revenues from Oil. The border states are spending double digit BILLIONS every year on medical assistance and education. I live in VA and one of my friends was turned away from a hospital because he didnt have medical insurance, and his wife was very sick. He was here legally from the Phillapines and he was told that if he was here illegally, that they could have helped him because there was money they could access for his wife's treatment. Now THAT is ***** up!
- CoachZed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Knowledge! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_world
- schlagzeuger, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14I lived in Miami for 6 years. Hardly anybody speaks English there, and if they do speak English, they don't do it very well. I had to learn to speak Spanish in order to survive there.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15God, he doesn't specifically say "Miami is a third world country." get it right.
- i64X, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9The difference is that previous waves wanted opportunities and came here legally to work and be productive... this time they're coming here ILLEGALLY and ended up on COPS.
Also FYI - our economy isn't doing too hot right now. The Canadian dollar is on par with ours... mid 90's it was like 60 cents CAD to $1US. - Halodude1489, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I spent 13 years in Miami and it definetly can be classified as third world. Drug trade has run rampent, thats for sure.
- i64X, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12It's not that America thinks the world should speak English, it's that they think that people coming to THEIR COUNTRY should speak the NATIONAL LANGUAGE of that country.
- babakshirazi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11
Miami is like other big cities as there are plenty of places you don't want to go to. In every big city, everyone knows where the ***** are, so why don't the police actually just set up offices on the corners of these places and clean them up? If it is too much for the cops to handle, then the national guard should be brought in.
It would actually be pretty easy to do. There shouldn't be any part of any city where you should be afraid to walk through at any time of the day or night. Law enforcement needs to start doing their job. - Yez70, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Go to Washington D.C.
You can see how the fat-cat politicos and lobbyists live. It's just like they do in third world countries where they oppress their own people and live off the hard work of the citizens. The only actions they do take are to benefit themselves, big business that keeps them in power, and their rich friends. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Someone doesn't understand how world economics works.
- jdb252, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12"For every one legal immigrant who moves into America, there are at least 20 illegal ones slipping in."
Speaking of pulling statistics out of your ass... - rrubiojr1975, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Tom Tancredo last year was quoted 'We could nuke Mecca' in response to terrorist threats...Just another example of what an idiot this guy is...
http://jackrich.wordpress.com/2005/07/21/tom-tancredo-we-could-nuke-mecca/ - geronimo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Just wait until he comes to los angeles. "My, there sure are a lot of colorful dentist offices."
- deivys, on 10/12/2007, -12/+18Well, you should be grateful. Now your bilingual. :)
- AZinferno, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7As a resident of a third world country I am very offended by being compared to Florida.
- multivariate, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9While maybe not exactly third worldish, MIami certainly is not the mostpastoral city in America. There is a lot of ethnic division here, the politicians truly are some of the most corrupt I've ever encountered, homes are unaffordable to the working class, and I don't think the low income/high income gap is higher anywhere else in America.
However, it's my home, and I love it. I can talk about it because I live there. Tancredo, you can kiss my tanned native Floridian a$$. - CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7its true. i live in homestead about as far south miami as you can go
ive ranted on digg for so long about the problems here i dont even know what to say
- us post offices in hialeah dont speak english and get a translator on the phone
- use the english only window at hialeah motor vehicles office to get out in 20 mins or less
- mail service this far south isnt always reliable and gets delivered in personal vehicles
- we have directv out of necessity because the cable company we're forced to use due to the homeowner association that resells adelphia doesnt bother to answer their phone or faxes
- people drive around without license plates constantly
- we drive down to the keys and see rafts left on the beaches
- my girlfriend and I have been turned down for jobs countless times for not knowing spanish. many times they simply reject you and then repost the job on monster with 'bilingual preferred' appended.
- latin people constantly try to cut in line in front of us at the grocery store
- its someones birthday and theyre celebrating in the break room and youre the only one who doesnt know spanish and feeling very awkward that you cant understand anyones conversations
- you overhear coworkers talking about paying off disneyworld employees to sneak their families in
- you overhear coworkers talking about how they used the hurricane wilma fema money to install a new pool
- like 90% of miami's population is latin yet nearly everyone going to miami dade college receives financial aid for being a 'minority'. im white and dont get any financial help.
- the gap between the rich and poor is massive. there is almost no middle class
- driving on the roads is like constantly dealing with mexican taxidrivers. when i was commuting from homestead to hialeah everyday i was literally praying everyday i would not die because the driving was THAT scary and im from los angeles.
- many caribbean or latin american religions use mercury in ceremonies either scattering it around or burning it so you never know if buying a used car or living in a house someone has lived in before isnt horribly contaminated by mercury.
- everyone is so ***** rude or a snob. nice people are very ***** rare.
need i go on?
btw to everyone who points to miami beach and says thats miami. try exploring the mainland a little. what everyone thinks of miami is actually miami beach - a little island connected to the mainland by a bridge and nothing like the rest of it. - krinthekuz, on 09/16/2008, -3/+8i live in miami and my girlfriend is hispanic (im white). the problem here is not illegal immigration. it's ***** who have no interest in assimilating whatsoever. i'm not saying they need to give up their religions and cultures. many don't even want to obey basic american laws and simple courtesies that everyone should generally know. here in miami, when you're waiting in line anywhere (restaurant, in traffic, at the grocery store), if you're not literally on the ass of the person in front of you, someone will cut you in line, and when you confront them, they'll act like you're the *****. and it's not city life either - i lived in atlanta and manhattan, and it was nothing like this in either of those.
it's a little stressful, but i still love miami. go back to your white suburbia if you don't like it. - zacamjo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm Puerto Rican and have visited Southern Florida (particularly Miami several times). I also spent 10 years as a Marine and they used me as a linguist. Want to know how bad the problem is in Southern Florida?
When Hurricane Andrew hit, Southern Florida was leveled. The state required fed assistance and the first unit sent in were a few Army teams. Many more were required and the Marines got involved about 1-2 weeks after the Army started rolling in. I was sent about a week later to the Homestead area. Why? Because our English-speaking Marines were unable to communicate with a huge number of the population (there were no official number but we guessed it was upwards of 50%). That's when I realized we had a problem. Our Armed Forces were dispatched to a part of our own country and were unable to communicate with about half of the residents we encountered... in some neighborhoods they were unable to communicate with anyone at all.
This is not racism. We have a problem in certain areas of our country where foreign nationals have been allowed to converge yet we've not required much from them. This is what preceeded the recent riots in France... large numbers of people converged in certain parts of the country and were mostly ignored as a community, but when tensions flared up, their allegiance(s) were exposed and it was clearly not nationalist (in France's favor). We encountered something similar (though thankfully much less violent) with the marches/protests by mostly Mexicans last year.
Immigration has played a huge role in the growth and establishment of our country. But those immigrants also understand, for the most part, that they were leaving their country and coming here to be an American. They kept their roots alive by passing down customs, tradition, etc. but they made it clkear once entering the country, they were American. Their allegiance was not to their originating country but rather to their new home.
We have a problem, and it's not going to fix itself. Immmigration is one thing, illegal immigration is something comepletely different and part of the root of our problem. Our borders should've been sealed long ago and followed by an extensive re-examination of our immigration policy (if all these people want to come here and they're finding a place to fit within society, then clearly our quotas are too low and our visa process is too slow). - SirSpank, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Don't worry, it won't be too long before we will have sent enough jobs overseas or given them to illegal immigrants that America won't be such an attractive place to live anymore and they'll all head over to India, Russia or perhaps back where they came from.
- shout, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7This dude is right. It's like North Cuba. Ridiculous. Every restaurant and strip mall has to have a 24 hour security guard patrolling the place just so some stupid idiots won't steal or break into your car.
- CrioKnight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I live in Miami. I am hispanic. A lot of these comments are offensive so be it. But back to the point at hand. I call the place a 3rd world country. Because it is. I would say that 70 to 80% of the population only speak Spanish. more than 50% of people here are laborers. But you know what the more affluent people in Miami don't care. Because they live in their own bubble away from all of that. The town is what the people that live in it want it to be. A town full of ignorant, illegal, self-centered, self-interested, corrupt and backwards thinking people. So when the congressman said it was a third world country, I chuckled. I have called it that for years. Shame that he has to apologize for a phrase that literally captures the city to the letter. I don't think he needs to apologize. I think he needs to elaborate.
That's my two cents worth. - mastershake1, on 10/12/2007, -13/+18No Cam_86, save it - Tom Tancredo is against IMMIGRATION. Pat Buchannan is against IMMIGRATION. Not just illegal immigration. ALL immigration. Have you read Pat's new book? The premise is that white culture is being deluded by brown people. Of course, he uses the politically correct term "multiculturalism," but he explicitly argues that we need to increase the white population. If you think I'm kidding, I'm not - read the book.
Read Tancredo's book too. It's pretty clear that he's anti-immigration, period. But you, like other Tancredo lovers, are afraid that it's not politically correct to just BE HONEST and admit this. The "third world" comment dovetails with the logic of his book - that allowing immigrants from poorer countries is bad because these people have lots of children and use social services. Never mind that sociological studies show the opposite - that immigrants are entrepreneurial, are successful business owners, strive to be educated and successful, and are generally very supportive of America. In the eyes of nationalists like Tancredo, these people are a threat to the old boy's network. - JimmyDushku, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Ya, cause 3rd world countries have back to back Ferraris parked outside buildings.
- adamkhel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The problem is not just "speak english", that is too easy. Miami, especially South Miami has a problem where you might get accosted for speaking english. I've been to gas stations in South Miami where I ask for something and get a response "Hey! Go learn Spanish!". Yes, there are a lot of people who will simply not work with you unless you speak to them in (Cuban) Spanish.
-A - FearlessFreep, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@ hplasm
Therefore we will probably not invade it.... - martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"...now maybe he doesn't like going to the beach and seeing brazillian girls..."
Anyone who doesn't like seeing Brazilian girls has been married too long! - ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Er...far-left liberal...ugh.
- CoachZed, on 10/12/2007, -9/+13Tancredo is an embarrassment to the entire state, though it's not entirely surprising he keeps getting elected when you consider the district he represents.
- Bradillac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4How do we secure the US/Mexico border? Land mines. Problem solved.
***** being so goddamn compassionate all the time. Once a few dozen idiots get their legs blown off maybe they'll contribute their work ethic to their own country instead of jumping ship. - JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I live in LA and the San Fernando Valley and a lot of places around here do feel like third world countries.
The borders need to be ***** closed. - CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4ive been to tijuana and what im experiencing here is comparable.
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