Dear World: Sorry about our president (Dan Rodricks, The Baltimore Sun)

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The Baltimore Sun August 6, 2017 Dear World: Sorry about our president

Dan Rodricks Dear World: I know it looks pretty bad right now, but I think I speak for many of my fellow Americans when I say that the United States is better than its current president.

A majority of us — nearly 6 out of 10 of us, according to a McClatchey-Marist poll — are embarrassed by the rhetoric, behavior and policies that have come from the present occupant of the White House. When we read his snarky tweets and hear his self-aggrandizing speeches, we cringe. He engages in conduct unbecoming of the chief executive, but what can I say? That’s how Donald J. Trump rolls.

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So it’s important that you know that Trump is not like most of the people he is supposed to lead.

Those of you who still desire to visit the states will find that the majority of Americans you meet are rational, humane, honest, generous and civil. The majority of us — a solid 6 out of 10 in a Quinnipiac University poll — do not share Trump’s values.

You are probably wondering what prompted a letter that could have been written any time over the last six months. For me, it was Trump’s announced support for legislation that, if made law, would cut legal immigration to the United States in half over the next decade, and favor educated people who have skills and speak English.

Immigration is near to me, being the son, grandson and son-in-law of immigrants — none of whom spoke English when they arrived here. With his attempted “reform” of our immigration policies, the president struck a particularly tender nerve that could be felt around the world.

And that’s because, even if you’re not interested in moving to the United States, you know what this country has stood for, and you must look at Trump’s actions — his attempt at a Muslim immigration ban, his retreat on our commitment to refugees, the stepped-up manhunts for undocumented immigrants, higher selectivity in legal immigration — and you probably wonder what got into us.

Well, no one is exactly sure. Trump’s ascendance has been super-analyzed, with all kinds of factors taken into account, from “economic anxiety” to widespread dislike for his Democratic opponent in the November election. My personal view is that his “Make America Great Again” credo represented Trump’s version of identity politics — a pitch to Americans who are, shall we say, uncomfortable with the number of people of color they see around them.

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Some of us celebrate diversity and think it makes us a better society; others just get the creeps from the demographic changes going on in this country.

But I’m here to tell you: Trump does not represent the majority view. Most Americans, presented with data and not just red-meat rhetoric, take a reasonable and generally generous view of legal immigration. And that’s particularly the case when Americans look at their own family trees, realize their roots are in the immigrant experience and show some empathy for those who still yearn to breathe free here.

Here’s another thing about Americans: We still value education, knowledge, expertise and common sense — maybe not in that order, but certainly in that combination. That’s why the Affordable Care Act will probably survive all the Trumpian and Republican attacks: Seeing the good it does, most of us who understand how the ACA was meant to work want to see it fixed, not repealed.

And most Americans see the merit in legal immigration — and not just for an educated, Englishspeaking class of newcomers who will earn higher wages. Had high-level skills and mastery of English been conditions for entrance, my grandparents and my father never would have made it.

Same with my in-laws. Same with millions of other Americans, the people who built this country.

Most economists say immigration does far more good than harm. Some have concluded that the presence of foreign-born workers in a regional labor market creates more jobs and gives a significant boost in wages to workers already here.

The upshot of Trump’s message on this matter is that low-skill immigrants who do not speak English hurt Americans. The evidence for that is really thin. We need a dynamic labor force as Page 3

much as we need professionals, managers and entrepreneurs. Besides, the smart people tell us we need immigrants to maintain productivity levels and care for an aging population.

"For most of the past half-century, adults in the baby boom generation have been the main driver of the nation's expanding workforce," the Pew Research Center reported in March. "But as this large generation heads into retirement, the increase in the potential labor force will slow markedly, and immigrants will play the primary role in the future growth of the working-age population."

So, world, look, we are still interested in you, despite how it looks right now. Sorry about the climate change thing. Sorry about the Russia thing. Sorry about the awkward handshakes and phone calls with your leaders. Sorry to put you through this.

Just imagine how we feel.

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