I posted this plan a couple of times in passing, but I wanted more to see this as many probably did not click on the link. I think that it is a pretty good plan. We hear so many Muslims complain about America, while at the same time enjoying the benefits of being here. Well here is a plan to entice them to go home: Paying them
Perhaps others like Hood and Amir could also elaborate further on their blogs
Filed under: Practical Solutions
As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,
I read the plan myself. There are a whole lot of holes in the plan, the biggest of them being that probably only a minority of Muslims would take up the offer. The satisfied and prosperous would stay, and there’s no guarantee that the fundamentalists would take up the offer if it meant going back to a country which does not have freedom of speech (such as virtually every Muslim country except possibly Pakistan). They would become nobodies very quickly. And most Muslims are aware that it is not easy to survive in Pakistan, much less in north Africa.
Second, many of the most troubled elements in Europe’s Muslim communities are not observant Muslims, much less fundamentalists, and many of them in France are descended from Algerians who fought with the French. They are, essentially, the “blacks” of their respective countries (alongside the actual blacks, from the Netherlands Antilles or French Carribean and West Africa), with a culture derived from the American “hood” and a bit of ethnic influence from back home. Many of them don’t speak Arabic or Urdu, their culture is entirely different from that of their home countries, and if they were to be dumped on France or Algeria with a wodge of money, they would quickly become an established criminal class if they didn’t fritter most of it away. I am opposed to dumping “immigrant” criminal elements, who were criminalised here, on their “home countries” because of the social ruin it causes there (look at what happened when the US dumped immigrant criminals on central America and the Dominican Republic). And this is assuming that they would take the money, something which is not at all certain.
I should add, there has been a voluntary repatriation scheme for Afro-Carribeans in the UK for decades, and you only have to look on the streets of south London to know how successful it has been! Perhaps a few older people have taken it up. The same would happen in this case.
Where do American Muslims go? Those of us who are American by birth? We plan on moving after I finish my degree anyway, whenever that might be. I have been working too much to go. My wife will have her Masters before I get my Bachelors I bet.
Anyway, if they want to buy me out, say 2 million dollars, to leave? SOLD!
Yusuf:
wa alaykum as-salaam
Mr Sailer mentioned that the satisfied and the prosperous would be those that stayed and these would be less troublesome and, I will add, more willing to leave the cultural baggage from their home countries.
If the fundamentalists in Europe (the loudest voices talking about how much they hate the West) did not take up this offer, it would expose them for what they really are…
As for here in the US, I think that hundreds of thousands of Muslims would take the offer. Several entire masjids would even basically cease to exist if the gov’t offered $25K per family member to move to a Muslim country.
Sounds like a fair plan to me. Find me a place to go, and count me in!
I have some experience in this being that I was locked up in an immigration detention facility and I see from the point of view of the Dominican and Central American countries why they didn’t want their criminal element back.
However, that shouldn’t be a problem for AMERICANS, because Americans should worry about what is best for AMERICANS first and not with the needs of Dominican Republic or Central America.
If they were to give $25K per person, my only question is if I can take the money and go to Brazil or Costa Rica
There is also the problem of taking the money and coming back to the US under another name
25K can go far some places, not others. As an American citizen they would have to offer me a whole lot more than they do an immigrant.
As to coming back to the USA, it isnt that easy anymore. Biometrics removes the ability just to change names and get away with it. Biometrics are going to be mandatory here soon on all passports.
The computer will know exactly who you are, no matter what the papers you carry say.
2 million dollars and a ticket for us all to Sharjah. I am on my way. I dont feel tied to any one place. I guess that is what happens when you move a lot in your life. I can make life enjoyable and workable anywhere.
The idea that only the happy would stay in the West if given such an offer doesnt make sense. The unahppy, the Jihadis would stay to do their attacks. Some of them would go back to their countries and use the money to fund attacks.
The only way such a scheme works, in reality, is for all Muslims to be forcibly deport and given compensation. Allowing any Muslims to remain really defeats the purpose.
I dont think this is all out of the question either. If there were a WMD attack in the USA, there would be a majority of Americans that would call for the deportation or imprisonment of all Muslims. Given recent history, going into any camp, whether it is Sbrenicia or Los Angles isnt a good idea.
Tariq, you may want to clarify your reasons for posting this…
…per our discussion
As I stated earlier, theoretically, this would be a good way to get rid of those that bring cultural baggage and impose it upon the rest of us here in the name of Islam. Converts have no “home” to go to, but I’m sure a lot of converts would love to take the deal to go to Yemen
“Ahh Yemen…”
Oh man, the streets of Yemeni cities would be crawling with converts from Philly
As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,
I have known quite a few quite prosperous Muslims of immigrant origin in the UK who have quite a bit of cultural baggage of their own - such as, for example, refusing to marry their daughters to people outside their ethnic or caste group, and in particular to black converts.
As for the fundamentalists, well, they were really only that loud because the media amplified their stupid comments. I don’t think they’d go that far in any Muslim country and they know that; the offer of money would probably shut up the few empty vessels who continue to chink, but their leaders are in any case mostly in jail or out of the country.
I still think a lot of older people would take up the money basically as a retirement plan. They would no doubt also benefit from occasional remittances from younger Muslims who stayed for as long as they can make money in the UK or the USA.
Yusuf:
wa alaykum as-salaam
With the refusal of Pakistanis to marry their children to other nationalities/ethnicities, then if immigration was cut off from Muslim countries (therefore cutting off the supply of marriagable people of their own nationality, which 55% of the time in UK is a cousin), then their children or grandchildren would at some point be forced to consider marrying Muslims of other ethnicities or outside their caste. The cultural baggage would go away slowly but surely, Insha Allah
I have to say, in all fairness, this is quite trite. Problems are often dealt with more effectively by dealing with them. I think the issue should be looked at in a mature fashion - not sensationalist, knee-jerk reaction. Heck, why draw the line at Muslims? Why not deport anyone who just plain gets on our nerves? I guess that’d mean there’d be no one here, they’d all be there and a whole lot richer (hmm… m-a-y-b-e…).
Pack up all my care and woe
Here I go, singing low
Bye bye blackbird…
I will try to write something more substantial later insha’Allah, but I think this is an excellent idea for some societies.
In France, for example, the Muslim minority faces the prospect of remaining an underclass, excluded from the job market, excluded from opportunities for social and economic mobility, and kept in ghettoes for generations because the French government pursues its absurd labour market policies. The high minimum wage, over-regulation of unfair dismissal laws, poor job turnover, and poor job creation have all conspired to keep ‘outsiders’ (Muslims) outside of the labour market. Although French industry might wish to hire cheaper Muslim immigrants to do work currently being done by expensive French workers, they can’t readily sack them. So the French economy enjoys all the negatives of immigration without any of the benefits.
At the same time, France faces the prospect of more and more civil unrest from these migrants because, as we all know, disenfranchisement is a recipe for problems. Given that they are unlikely to liberalise their economy, the best option then for the French people — and the Muslims themselves — is to encourage as many Muslims (or indeed any other migrant group) to return home. This means paying them enough money to compensate for leaving France plus ensuring that they can live a relatively improved lifestyle back home. This wouldn’t, as Sailor as noted, require a lot of money to achieve (in the scheme of things). As long as it is non-coercive, I don’t see any ethical issues with it.
As for countries such as the US, UK or Australia, I’m not sure that such measures are necessary or desirable because they send a very distasteful message into society. The social cost of pursuing such a policy would, in my view, outweight the benefits — given the US doesn’t face the sorts of problems as some European countries.
What would you advise France do about the “harkis” (Algerian Muslims who were loyal to France during the war of independence) and their descendants? They can’t return to Algeria, because they would be viewed as traitors there…
I would advise France to liberalise its economy and fix its labour market. If they don’t want to do that, then they can either live with the social problems that are going to result or they can try and do something about it (such as implement the plan described above). As for the Harkis and their descendents then they will have to make the same choice as every other Algerian: stay and deal with the consequences of the French labour policies or return home and deal with the consequences of having chosen the “wrong” side when Algerians were fighting for independence.