philosophy and you know it better than anyone uncommon

Fighting evil is necessary for freedom to prevail...once the freedom to fight is stripped away by evil that's the end. You're right, the problem IS philosophical, and the Constitution is not being upheld, we have been complacent for way too long and we are only beginning to realize the need to fight for freedom again.

Spelling checked. It's good.

yes. I know. Spelling.....I guess I'm starting to falter...stand by to stand by as I fix it.

seizes?

Neither do I. I believe Pres. Ronald Reagan said "A country without borders seizes to be a country."

Absolutely. And when we do our job and educate people, or in this case for lack of a better term re-educate them, we may eventually have a large enough majority to hold off the statists' for a while. Much like the experience of our Republic for the first century of its existence. I only hope if this comes to fruition that the lesson is not lost for at least as long...

That makes perfect sense. My point is that to really make a difference you need to win the minds of people already here or have the ability to kick people out.

I don't think that.

Just south of our border the teachers are exhibiting, and by extension teaching that handouts and special privileges are deserved at the expense of others. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/se...
They are more extreme than our teacher strikes. Do you not believe that other nations foster and tolerate more extreme statist policies?

Very well, but isn't it easier to fight the statism that exists without adding to the numbers from areas of the world with extreme marxist attitudes?

I reject the idea that most statist thought comes from abroad. I see what I see as excessive statism in people who have been here for many generations. Most people on this board think I'm too socialist. Is that from foreign influence? I just don't see it. It think if we somehow block out foreign influence, which is impossible if you want a growing economy in the information age, we'd still have people coming up with the notion they need a handout all on their own.

I quite agree education has been lacking. What of the parents who are immigrants who have not fully grasped and appreciated the foundations and inculcate the same to their children? If one is born to a different political culture how do you educate/rid them of all of the bad baggage? How do we stop the progressive "blob" which is our public education system from turning out little marxists?

Yes, but people born here are impacted and influenced over time by those coming here, although they may not carry the same leanings to the same degree. How do we screen for libertarian vs. Marxist leanings?

There are many who flee from oppressive Marxist leaning countries. One would like to believe that they come here to embrace fully the opposite of what they left behind, but somehow that does not seem to bear out. They want to pick and choose. This has been the story since the beginning of our nation, has it not? This has influenced the body politic. The slow inroads of foreign political thinking has even infiltrated our highest court, when they wish to refer to other nations laws and constitutions (Ginsberg) as influence on their decisions which are supposed to be only based upon our Constitution. http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/ruth-ba...

"But how do you maintain a society and its culture unless you administer some sort of philosophic test, or ban those who would subvert your constitution from voting or adversely impacting the culture?"
We have almost always been a melting pot. What about the Asian culture? Incredibly different from "ours" yet, these immigrants don't seem to be bucking free markets and liberty in general-these immigrants and there children are freely thriving.
The problem is we the citizens, including our parents and grandparents generations did not/are not doing the tough things necessary to stop the thousand cuts. As Rand said, it only takes a small vocal minority. People of all cultures thrive in an economically free nation. and we were enjoying it while our enemies were plotting to bring it down. Our enemies-BORN IN THE USA.
lol, not yelling at you. But keeping people out will NOT solve the ideology war. It is NOT about culture-it is about philosophy. I agree that since we are already a welfare state-we are toppling fast to illegal immigration, education, etc. The biggest fence in the world will not save the Constitution. The tea party can-if they stop being fixated on fences

It seems like there are two unrelated issues:
- People born in US vs born elsewhere
- People with Marxist leanings vs Libertarian Leanings
At one point you suggest the group of people we're making US citizens has a higher percentage of statist progressive attitudes and the people who are born here. Is that true? Certainly many people born here have statist attitudes and many people who come here come seeking liberty from oppressive gov'ts. Even if naturalized citizens are more likely to be statist than natural born citizens, that influence is minor next to the attitudes we're teaching kids who are US citizens, regardless of whether their parents are natural born.

True. But how do you maintain a society and its culture unless you administer some sort of philosophic test, or ban those who would subvert your constitution from voting or adversely impacting the culture? How can one expect to let every freeloader with Marxist leanings enter the political arena and through slow piece meal manipulation destroy the foundation? It seems to me the only way is to enforce our immigration laws and continue to educate the perspective citizens of the philosophy that made this country desirable in the first place before granting any benefit or citizenship. If people come here just to live and work but accept the culture (When in Rome...) fine, but that is not what has happened. Putting non citizens on juries in California portends further erosion and degradation. If we let people live wherever they want and have open borders then people who come with unwanted political baggage/philosophies must be denied voice in the body politic in order to preserve what is essential. Otherwise we invite opportunity to lose the philosophical battle... We already have too many naturalized citizens with statist progressive attitudes that mimic those immigrants who come here because it is so desirable then want to change our culture! Is it unwarranted to try and protect/preserve a culture from known adversaries? I would like very much to find a more appealing solution... What do you have in mind?

So why did we think that America could?

It didn't...and it couldn't.