the fact that you're lucky to be born here. or is it that, you were able to enter this country " legally" before the doors were closed on everybody else. or is it yet, that you've worked hard for the building, maintaining, and moving forward this great american country?
2007-06-16 13:08:04 · 16 answers · asked by don rica 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Americans can be of any race or creed. They obey the laws and treat others with respect. They honor the sacrifices made by those that came before them.
One thing they didn't do is sneak into the country.
2007-06-16 13:40:56 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is three things:
1) Put the laws ahead of your own goals;
2) Put the country ahead of your own ideology;
3) Put others rights ahead of things you don't have a right to.
Simple.
Illegal immigrants don't do this.
Socialists don't do this.
The seditious don't do this.
I do. How about the rest of you?
I can already hear the cries:
1) What if it is an unjust law?
2) What if the government is corrupt?
3) What if the their right is wrong?
Unjust laws can be fought in just ways. Notice that the people who most often break the laws have done NOTHING to change the law. It would be "inconvenient" to actually do something legal to change the unjust law, so they just break it. That's un-American. Illegal immigrants do this.
Corrupt politicians exist. They're very rare. That's why they're news. Ex-cons don't end up in the news very often. They commit crimes often. We have a Constitution. We have a Bill of Rights as part of it. If you can prove to the public that those two documents are being destroyed, being ignored, then a revolution is just. Until then, you are just one more traitorous enemy to our free and just land. I don't mean screaming something like, "I have a right to privacy and they're taking it away!" What nonsense. There is no "right to privacy" in the Constitution. That is not a just cause for revolution any more most of the complaints presently used are.
3) That's what courts are for. You do not have the right to decide on your own what is right and wrong and take other's rights for your own purposes. Yet, if you do, if you decide you do, we have courts to be sure that the person who is correct, wins.
2007-06-16 20:21:18 · answer #2 · answered by mckenziecalhoun 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I consider myself a more true American simply because of when my family came here and the sacrifices made through the years. My family immigrated here from Germany in the 1600's, yes before the USA was an official country. I have a long line of military tradition in my family from the civil war, ww1, ww2, Korean war, and vietnam. I make 8.50 an hour working 25 hours per week. To see an illegal come here, and most immigrants come here they get money to open businesses and most get higher paying jobs. Something is definately not right here, and the truth will surface some day.
2007-06-16 20:14:01 · answer #3 · answered by lvillejj 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
To be honest I think it's more a less a relative term...now-a-days.
For me, it's a person that knows the wisdom in small/effective federal government....with local democratic traditions. That's the basis of America. People that don't respect the WHOLE constitution, and the history involving it...don't really come-off to me as an American....
They're just visitors.
You have to respect the structure, and understand where your (former) country failed....to really get a sense of where America got it right, but is slowly forgetting about.
In many respects, I don't think many 'Americans' are 'Americans'. Someday they'll read again...
2007-06-16 20:31:49 · answer #4 · answered by Rick 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are several meaning of being an American. I agree with the last part, but to that, one must believe in the society adn community of America. That means to follow the rules. If we do not have laws, all that we would have built would be destroyed in the chaos. TO create something, one needs order. If people do not follow our laws, people would end up stealing and cheating from each other. Violating one law does more than just that. It makes it acceptable for other laws to be violated. People would rationalize their action believing that what they do is best for the community, when in fact it damages the community and benefits only the individual. It is the people who determine what is right and wrong, and should not be left to an individual to decide.
2007-06-16 20:18:41 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
1. Lucky enough to be born here.
2. Naturalized after having gone through the proper procedures. (Doors haven't been "closed on everybody else.")
That's it.
Your implication is that the illegal immigrants should be called "real Americans" for the work that they do. Sorry, but that doesn't make them REAL Americans. They're not working to build America... they're working to send money home to support their impoverished families. Don't let's make up a fantasy about them having a patriotic mission to make America great.
2007-06-16 20:13:35 · answer #6 · answered by Bad Kitty! 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
that you've worked hard for the building, maintaining, and moving forward this great american country + loyalty + patriotism.
2007-06-16 20:11:12 · answer #7 · answered by Lori 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Johny Cash
2007-06-16 20:25:18 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
John Wayne was a real American..
2007-06-16 21:52:29 · answer #9 · answered by John 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think of americans as people of a mixture of different ethnicities (sp?). But, that's just me.
2007-06-16 20:10:11 · answer #10 · answered by nyjason20 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋