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Alien Nation by Peter Brimelow 
A Distinguished Immigration Patriot Is Disgusted By The "New Patriotism"
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From: Gerda Bikales (e-mail
her)
A letter I
recently received had a
Los Angeles
postmark but no return address. It was sent to me
informally, by my first and family name – no Mrs., Ms.,
or Miss. The handwriting was regular and precise, if
somewhat childish.
When I opened the envelope, I found a folded newspaper
page to which a yellow post-it had been affixed in the
same neat handwriting: "Gerda," it read, "you must see
this!"
Signed "J."
I mentally
reviewed my Los Angeles contacts without identifying a
"J." The full page ad had a screaming headline:
"Learn How to Profit From the Trillion-Dollars in
Government Bailout Programs!"
The newspaper
in which the ad appeared was dated June 3, 2009.
Curiously, the publication's name didn't appear
anywhere.
I read on:
"There's NEW Money Available... We'll show you How to
Get it! ... You'll learn how you can DIRECTLY benefit
from
TARP,
the 'Troubled Asset Relief Program.'"
Just in case
the reader has qualms about jumping on the gravy train
to bilk the U.S. government, the National Grants
Conferences takes care to assuage such feelings:
"This money comes from the Government Grant, Loan, and
Subsidy system – and it's essentially YOUR money.
It comes from YOUR taxes, and it may be available
to you as Opportunity Money."
Furthermore,
it is our patriotic duty to grab the money: "The
Government knows that by helping you achieve your dreams
and realize success, you will be a solid taxpaying
citizen, helping to further stimulate the economy..."
So, there you
have it, the
new patriotism:
snap up the public's money and spend it. There is no
further requirement.
At free
"conferences"
offered in various locations in the New York area, the
National Grants Center will teach you how to go about
it. There
are plenty of testimonials along with underexposed
blurry photographs from folks who attended one of these
and have supposedly been amply rewarded.
It took a
while but eventually it dawned on me that the whole
package was a direct mail come-on, brilliantly executed
with the attention-getting post-it from my old friend
"J."
(VDARE.COM note:
the real
National Grants Conference explains the scam
here.)
At first, I
had been flattered that someone had thought me
civic-minded enough to be repulsed by the message, but
my sentiment changed to embarrassment when I realized
that my name had somehow landed on a list of people
believed likely to seek profit from our country's
unprecedented economic crisis.
How did that happen?
The folks at the National Grants Conference are wrong
about me.
I am not
tempted to enroll in their "free"
conference series.
A few disgruntled would-be profiteers who have
posted their experiences
with the National Grants Conference organization on the
Internet describe the operation as a high pressure sales
pitch for a $999 course on how to nail the money. After
forking over their tuition payment, the hapless buyers'
calls for help were ignored.
It would seem
that if this money-grubbing scheme does not deliver as
advertised, it is time to call on our government to
investigate for deceptive advertising.
And if indeed
it does deliver on its preposterous claim, behooves us
to complain to Congress and TARP about this outright
abuse of the
economic stimulus legislation.
Bikales is one of the original founders of the
Federation for American Immigration Reform, served
as the first Executive Editor of
U.S. English
and as a founding director of
ProEnglish. She
has also contributed to
The Social
Contract.
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