On the Future of Migrants – And of Europe.... “Europe needs immigrants”

[stockholmer]

http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/05/on-the-future-of-migrants-%e2%80%93-and-of-europe/

"Europe needs immigrants” – former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema stated bluntly in the 10th May Le Monde – in direct dispute with “the two most active European pyromaniacs”, Berlusconi and Sarkozy. Calculation to support that postulate could hardly be simpler: There are today 333 million Europeans, but with the present (and still falling) average birth rate, this number will shrink to 242 million in the next 40 years.

To fill that gap, at least 30 million newcomers will be needed – otherwise our European economy will collapse together with our cherished standard of living. “Immigrants are an asset, not a danger” – D’Alema concluded. And so is the process of cultural mettisage (“hybridization”), which the influx of newcomers is bound to trigger; mixing of cultural inspirations is the source of enrichment and an engine of creativity – for European civilization as much as for any other. All the same, there is but a thin line separating enrichment from the loss of cultural identity; to prevent the cohabitation between autochthons and allochthons from eroding cultural heritages, it needs to be based therefore on respecting the principles underlying European “social contract”… The point is, by both sides!................

snip

"After their dazzling victory in the provincial election in Baden-Wurtemberg, leaving the social democrats trailing behind and putting for the first time in the history of Bundesrepublik one of their own, Winfried Kretschmann, at the head of a provincial government, German Greens, and notably Daniel Cohn-Bendit, begin to ponder the possibility of the German Chancellery turning green as soon as in 2013.

But who will make that history in their name? Cohn-Bendit has little doubt: Cem Ozdemir. Their present-day sharp-minded and clear-headed, dynamic, widely admired and revered co-leader, re-elected a few months ago by 88% of the votes. Until his 18th birthday, Ozdemir held a Turkish passport; then he, a young man already deeply engaged in German and European politics, selected German citizenship because of the harassments to which Turkish nationals were bound to be exposed whenever trying to enter the United Kingdom or hop over the border of neighbouring France................"

snip


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

more on Cem Ozdemir:

http://www.oezdemir.de/en/index.html

http://citiesofmigration.ca/interviews/cem-ozdemir/ (good interview w/ video as well)

http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/cem_ozdemir.html

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/30/germany-s-cem-ozdemir-talks-integration.html

[CJvR]

1. LOL!

Yeah sure, Europe needs more immigrants like it needs a hole in the head.
Lets first try and get the ones already immigrated integrated and working first - because that has worked so well so far.

[stockholmer]

3. 2 points, our native populace IS disappearing, and you're making a large preconception of the type..

of immigrant that could come. Not all need be from the 3rd world, with vast cultural differences. I would love to see an over-arching policy designed to facilitate an influx of frustrated, highly skilled, socially aware Americans come across and 'escape' the betrayal of the US social compact.

[Cid_B]

7. They could be...

... but short of a real holy shit "California just broke off" natural disaster they won't be.

They will be from the 3rd world and they will have vast cultural differences.

That guy reported in the OP is crazy.

[eilen]

8. I have family in Germany.

My Mom was born there, her father still lives there and my cousins are all clamoring to meet me and my family! I don't speak the language but since I possess a functioning brain, I am certain I can learn it. I also have skills! I'm a nurse! My mother didn't get American citizenship until she was an adult -- in the 1980's but the German embassy stated she was not a German citizen anymore.

Do they have work for electricians in Germany?

[stockholmer]

11. yes,& if you're a German citizen, you can work anywhere in the EU,including here in the Nordic,where

unemployment is very low, and the social benefits are very high (free uni, health care, long paid vacations and paid maternity and paternity leave, great pension plans, etc etc). Even if a person is not an EU citizen, Sweden is probably the easiest EU country to move to for skilled work.

[eilen]

18. I think I have to take some language lessons..... nt

[eilen]

19. The Nordic region is so fascinating

I've always wanted to go there. I am envious of the supportive biking culture. Sweden, Denmark-- just to be able to visit the museum there for the historic costume would be such a treat. I love the history there, including back in the iron ages-- the Sagas -- such human stories. I feel that is where my spiritual heritage lies-- the only parts of the mid-eastern religions I can even relate to are the social justice parts. I think I can handle the weather as I am from the Northeast, the US's snowiest city. What does one have to do to apply for work visas?

[mmonk]

2. They do need immigrants. I mean, what country can I go to to achieve the American dream?

[stockholmer]

4. define 'American Dream' (if you're talking about upward social mobility, the US is the 2nd worst in....

the entire developed world, only the UK is worse.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2268872


If you speak of wealth distribution, it is actually even worse, as the USA ranks 93rd in the world in wealth inequality, behind even Iran.

Table 7: Income equality in selected countries
Country/Overall Rank Gini Coefficient
1. Sweden 23.0
2. Norway 25.0
8. Austria 26.0
10. Germany 27.0
17. Denmark 29.0
25. Australia 30.5
34. Italy 32.0
35. Canada 32.1
37. France 32.7
42. Switzerland 33.7
43. United Kingdom 34.0
45. Egypt 34.4
56. India 36.8
61. Japan 38.1
68. Israel 39.2
81. China 41.5
82. Russia 42.3
90. Iran 44.5
93. United States 45.0
107. Mexico 48.2
125. Brazil 56.7
133. South Africa 65.0

Note: These figures reflect family/household income, not individual income.
Source: Central Intelligence Agency (2010)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html

[mmonk]

9. That's exactly what I mean. It can't be achieved here for most people.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I'd like to hear Bauman's definition of 'Europe'

since the '333 million Europeans' figure is well below the current population the EU alone - over 500 million: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=tps00001&tableSelection=1&footnotes=yes&labeling=labels&plugin=1

Perhaps he means the Eurozone area. But if so, he ought to make that clear; and I'd like to know where the 242 million in 40 years' time estimate comes from too.

[eilen]

6. Europe needs immigrants? Where do I sign up? nt

[enum]

10. Precise look at the example Germany:

Within the next decades, Germany's population becomes more and more older, a problem not only in common. Already yet German industries and services have a lack of willing and qualified employees, with the new regulation of the E.U. workers migration laws started May 1st 2011 the Government in Berlin hopes that high qualified staff for example in the medical area will fill the actual gaps in hospitals by traveling from Poland or Slovakia.

A chancelor with migration background seems to be inevitable even as the change of generations in the political classes. Old-fashioned hardliners are becoming a part of history and the figures of the transitional period like Angela Merkel or Guido Westerwelle have simply to supervise the paradigma shift which started with the beginning of the new millennium.

I think the most important fact for our future is not to lose the contact to the young people, especially the 3rd generation immigrants, the grandsons and granddaughters who are no longer somewhere 'in between' as their parents, their roots stay no longer in the foreground of their life definition and - believe me - they are smart, very smart! That is exactly their common sense with the youth in Asia, Arabia or North Africa ..

[stockholmer]

12. welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. I never quite understood how the US colonies were basically started by European immigrants, yet we

have more people living here now than they do in Europe.

I mean, this has only happened in a little over 200 years so how did we go from boatloads to over a few hundred million in just that short time span, and how isn't Europe's population is shrinking?!

[WinkyDink]

15. 1. Non-European immigrants. 2. Slaves brought here. 3. No World Wars here, with millions dead.

[WinkyDink]

14. No, Europe does not. Is this guy nuts? There are no jobs!

[stockholmer]

17. I do not know where you live, but there are plenty of skilled jobs available here in the Nordic

if you are ambitious, well-skilled, have something to offer on multiple levels, are unsatisfied with the current situ you live in, are open to new experiences (things that almost all USA people I know well consider themselves to be - whether rightly or wrongly), and are willing to make the effort to apply for a major move, it is more than possible to move to the EU.

At some point I hope some Americans realize that things in the US simply are not going to change for the better, and when they do this, I hope they consider a move to the EU. Their ancestors did the same calculation (unless they were slaves) when they came to America.

History may not repeat itself, but it certainly does rhyme at times.

[WinkyDink]

21. Americans have entrenched love of traditions, sports, daily life such that you will NEVER see any

significant emigration from here. NEVER.

In any case, why, then, aren't Southern EUROPEANS heading north? Surely, the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italians must be more aware of the opportunities than any American!

[stockholmer]

22. America, as a nation is 235 years old, as a settled colony of Europe, only 400

The demographics are changing incredibly fast for a population that large (with many having very weak socio-cultural ties to the so-called American way of living), the medium to long term financial picture is grim at best, with the empiric wars being a huge manifestation of this. The culture is marked by hyper-fluidity within the single most controlled media-paradigm in the developed world. Traditions there are extremely new and artificial compared to rest of the world, and for the most part are now co-opted by oligarchic meta-system as a means to simply further their ends and agenda.

I do grant that a higher percentage (than any other major nation in modern history) of Americans will simply be too unhealthy to leave for a myriad number of resons. Just one example- by 2020 over half of the US will either be fully diabetic or in the final pre-diabetic stage. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/23/unitedhealth-diabetes-idUSN2229234020101123.

However, given that the sui generis of immigration to the US for so many was the pursuit of a 'better life', I would definitely be willing to take a wager that you will see large amounts of exodus over the next 10 to 20 years, unless the control grid simply ring-fences Americans in. Such is always the lot of all empires in their collapsing era.

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Low estimate of population there

the population of the EU-27 is more like 500 million, and of the entire continent counting Russia, more than 800 million. 333 million for WESTERN Europe, maybe, I can't see how else they arrived at that number.

[stockholmer]

20. fairly sure he's speaking of population in the Eurozone proper, but agreed, should be more specific