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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The issue is immigration. People from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan don't seem particularly interested in becoming Dutch and accepting Dutch norms - whether the role of women, LGBTQ, work, etc etc. Plus all the violence these immigrants often bring. The Dutch are fed up. It's a small country. It's not like there's a lot of space. Everyone needs to live together. The immigrants that Holland has taken do not seem inclined to assimilate, even with all the benefits. The Dutch are as liberal as ever. But the immigrants are not generally tolerant. So there's a very strong electoral backlash.  [/quote]
Why don't you see these attitudes in the American Muslim diaspora?[/quote]

That's a very good question. And the fact that we don't have this is genuinely what makes America pretty good. Even Canada - lots of space - has trouble assimilating some immigrant groups - Muslims and Indians in particular.

The US has always been a nation of immigrants. And most groups have experienced backlash - Irish, Italians, Mexicans. But we are the melting pot. By the second generation, everyone assimilates and is American. It's the strength of this country.

Holland - and all of Europe really - are not nations of immigrants. They are nation-states. You are Dutch, Swedish, Italian - or you are not. These are countries borne of blood, history and language. They are not countries borne from enlightenment ideas, like the US was. So that's one challenge. No one will ever accept someone from Afghanistan to be genuinely Dutch.

The second problem is the migrants themselves. For legal migration, the US vets people. Europe just took on a whole bunch of migrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Sahara Africa with no vetting at all. Most often they have no education. No skills. They are often very religious. They're very retrograde with their views on women. They do not vibe at all with modern Europe. They take the benefits. Don't often work. And simmer in their resentment.

It's very combustible, as we saw with the rioting in France last year. And most Europeans have had enough of this. They will vote right wing. But right wing in Europe is not the same as America. People want their health care. People want pensions. People want affordable education. That's not an issue at all. It's the migrants.[/quote]

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