It was said in Europe 35 years ago, “young people who are not socialist have no heart, older people who are not capitalist have no brain.” Balancing humanity, compassion and idealism with the realization that human beings are what we are - basically self-interested actors - informs all decisions we make on how to organize our society and our everyday lives.
The current political debates on healthcare, the stimulus package, the deficit, financial regulation, student aid, the Muslim cultural center/mosque being built near the 9/11 site and immigration policy place us squarely inside this dilemma.
Concerning immigration, it lacks heart to conclude that the harm and wrong people committed by unlawfully coming to the U.S. to work and support their families is so bad that they all should be deported and/or forced to leave, no matter how long they have successfully lived, worked, married or had children here in the U.S. (many if not most of the people we applaud today at their naturalization ceremonies for their righteousness of becoming U.S. citizens were previously illegal before finding a way to become legal permenant residents). The idea that we should not build better border fences and controls and ensure that no one can be employed in the U.S. without proper work papers lacks brains.
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