The problem is not with immigration but with us being to gutless or blind to ask the right questions of people when they want to come here. Nearly all of us have benefited and been enriched by having people from different cultures and backgrounds as friends. One reason we don't demand allegiance is because we have so many locals who hate everything Australia stands for and has achieved over the last 200 years. History continues to be rewritten and the white anglos are always the crimminals. If anyone other the the whites do something wrong its because of us anyway. Many of those who hate our British heritage are the most racist people in our country. We can't and won't stop immigration but we can enforce what Mr Howard said in that we should at least chose who comes here.

Legrain attempts to gloss over the disastrous European experience of immigration by pointing out a few pathetic benefits, which have come at enormous social and cultural upheaval.

Fear of foreigners:

If there were nothing to fear, people would not be afraid. In many cases the fears are real, and justifiable. It is not a matter of a host country doing a better job integrating migrants: it that people naturally prefer to stick with their own. No laws or practical policies will change that.

Global debate:

Legrain only considers work and careers, but there is much, much more to life than working as a merchant banker in a foreign country. Why does Legrain measure life by work and money, as if it counts above everything else?

Legrain’s views are not a breath of fresh air at all. They are noxious and suffocating.

plerdsus: 'After all, how many Nazis did we admit during World War 2?'

Hmmm. Given that Islam is a religion (the teachings of which are interpreted almost as many ways as Christianity) and the Nazi's were a political party with very specific objectives, I'm not sure your comparison holds much weight.

When you say 'countries that are against us', I presume you are speaking of middle eastern countries? Because we shouldn't forget that the majority of Muslims in the world are in fact from African nations, which kind of ruins the whole 'Islam = terrorism' equation many seem to make.

Robg : ‘If there were nothing to fear, people would not be afraid.’

Complete crap. Fear is built into people. If there isn’t anything real to fear, people will make something up. Built into our genes from hunter and gatherer days.

‘people naturally prefer to stick with their own’

Of course they do. I prefer to stick with humans as well. I don’t think I’d last very long in a lion herd.

Spendocrat,

Do you as a rule only write moronic comments? Or are you incapable of writing anything else?

Once again a well intentioned tome, if somewhat misguided as some point out, is written which fails to address the real issue in the world: World overpopulation. When are we all going to address this issue and stop shuffling around the edges by thinking we can make room in Australia or anywhere else for the worlds disadvantaged and extremely poor.

We of the wealthy nations are well placed to change the social dynamic which preaches growth at all costs. Why are we still going down this road at the expense of all the other poor beings that inhabit this planet?

Our job, surely, is to do something about making the countries where these poor people come from livable so they do not need to leave. Diverse Culture is a wonderful thing and should be encouraged, not the homogeneous mass of half-baked mixes foisted on us by groups who espouse "multiculturalism" or "integration". Neither of these systems apears to work.

Meanwhile, as we fritter, our replenishable resources are degrading day by day.

spendocrat:

When you say 'countries that are against us', I presume you are speaking of middle eastern countries? Because we shouldn't forget that the majority of Muslims in the world are in fact from African nations, which kind of ruins the whole 'Islam = terrorism' equation many seem to make.

This statement is not true.

Asia 778,362,000 69.1%

Africa 308,660,000 27.4%

Europe 32,032,000 2.8%

Latin America 1,356,000 0.1%

North America 5,530,000 0.5%

Oceania 385,000 0.0%

World 1,126,325,000 100%

1.Indonesia 182.2 million
2.Pakistan 136.9 million
3.Bangladesh 115.0 million
4.India 108.6 million
5.Iran 63.9 million
6.Turkey 61.0 million
7.Egypt 51.6 million
8.Nigeria 40.2 million
9.Algeria 29.1 million
10.China * 29.1 million
11.Morocco 29.1 millio