mmigration has always been at the heart of America’s story & self-definition. It has also one of the if not the major source of America’s power & prosperity. But anxiety about welcoming immigrants...
Back in teh 1970s, flying from England to Canada for the first time, I was amazed at how empty it seemed from the air, cities widely separated. Today, California from the air still looks rather empty compared to England and even most of Europe that I have visited. True, California appears water-limited, but that is because of the extensive, and rather primitive, use of water for farming. Reduce ag water demand and allow denser housing with better public transport, and California could increase its density several fold without problems, yet still maintain its attractive environment.
"The Number of purely white People in the World is proportionably very small. All Africa is black or tawny. Asia chiefly tawny. America (exclusive of the new Comers) wholly so. And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy Complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who with the English, make the principal Body of White People on the Face of the Earth."
Interesting view Franklin had. If only he could have seen the views of Nazi Germany and Aryan "race" purity, e.g. Swedes "swarthy Complexion, as are the Germans"?
"Without sustained immigration, America's population today would likely resemble that of Canada or Australia"
According to Doug Saunders, Canada's comparatively low population is due as much to population loss as to lack of immigrants. The story as he tells it ( e.g. in his book "Maximum Canada") is that Canada did not lack for immigrants, but too many of these decamped for greener pastures south. The reason he adduces is a policy focus that idealized the yeoman farmer and regarded urban centres as merely a necessary evil, to be tolerated but never encouraged.
Back in teh 1970s, flying from England to Canada for the first time, I was amazed at how empty it seemed from the air, cities widely separated. Today, California from the air still looks rather empty compared to England and even most of Europe that I have visited. True, California appears water-limited, but that is because of the extensive, and rather primitive, use of water for farming. Reduce ag water demand and allow denser housing with better public transport, and California could increase its density several fold without problems, yet still maintain its attractive environment.
Love the "E pluribus unum" angle but, technically, isn't this CRT?
"The Number of purely white People in the World is proportionably very small. All Africa is black or tawny. Asia chiefly tawny. America (exclusive of the new Comers) wholly so. And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy Complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who with the English, make the principal Body of White People on the Face of the Earth."
Interesting view Franklin had. If only he could have seen the views of Nazi Germany and Aryan "race" purity, e.g. Swedes "swarthy Complexion, as are the Germans"?
"Without sustained immigration, America's population today would likely resemble that of Canada or Australia"
According to Doug Saunders, Canada's comparatively low population is due as much to population loss as to lack of immigrants. The story as he tells it ( e.g. in his book "Maximum Canada") is that Canada did not lack for immigrants, but too many of these decamped for greener pastures south. The reason he adduces is a policy focus that idealized the yeoman farmer and regarded urban centres as merely a necessary evil, to be tolerated but never encouraged.
Is the estimate given for the U.S. population '[…] [w]ithout sustained immigration[…].' that for immigration's ceasing at (say) 1800.