As American Indian Tribes Go, So Goes the Nation
“In Melting Pot or Civil War?, I address the tension between two arguments. (I also address it in a recent op-ed for the Washington Post.) The first, which I am inclined to accept, is that in an age of offshoring and automation, when the wages of the working class are under intense competitive pressure, it is right and appropriate for government to help close the gap between what low- and middle-income U.S. families earn and what they need to lead decent lives. The second, which I do not accept, is that the U.S. ought to admit well-meaning newcomers who don’t command the skills that are most prized in a postindustrial economy, and who will therefore be in need of public assistance for themselves and their offspring, without limit.”