tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-256801828148573136.post5245497298660664553..comments2024-01-26T17:29:53.415-05:00Comments on Reader's Almanac: The Grapes of Wrath at Seventy-Five: 1939–2014The Library of Americahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17586915922688562543noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-256801828148573136.post-47870834460655924682014-04-07T15:55:10.027-04:002014-04-07T15:55:10.027-04:00“Change a few words and that might describe twenty...“Change a few words and that might describe twenty-first-century resistance to illegal immigrants or the angry push-back on passage of the DREAM Act. Steinbeck’s assignment for the San Francisco News was to move readers to an empathetic recognition that those folks are our folks.”<br /><br />What a stupid comparison. The migrants Steinbeck was talking about were Americans from places like Oklahoma. He went to considerable length in the articles to explain that the Okies, unlike Mexicans, were not terribly diseased, could be law-abiding, maintain an American way of life, etc. The same can’t be said for Latinos who haven’t been born and raised in the traditions of this country. If you disagree with Steinbeck’s reasoning, take it up with him. <br /><br />Final thought: Did you miss Steinbeck’s prediction in the Harvest Gypsies that, in the future, agriculture would rely entirely on well-paid and well-treated American labor and stop exploiting foreigners like the Mexicans? <br /><br />Paradoxically, when you support illegal immigration you are helping the 1 percent against the 99 percent. Illegals are just a tool for greedy rich people in this country to get richer. Fransnoreply@blogger.com