“A Plan to Destroy America”

Former Democrat Colorado Governor Dick Lamm gave this speech at an immigration overpopulation conference held early in 2004 (According to Snopes, Truthorfiction and other Urban Legend debunking sites)

(Note from Gary: You can find this at any number of places on the web, and comparison will reveal that it has been retyped and edited a number of times. Where text or spelling differed, I relied on a direct comparison of versions on the two truly excellent sites listed above.)

“A Plan to Destroy America”

"If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'"

"Here is how they do it:

“First: To destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar Seymour Lipset put it this way: ‘The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension and tragedy.’ Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficult times with Basques, Bretons and Corsicans.

“Second: To destroy America, Invent multiculturalism and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal -- That there are no cultural differences. Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

“Third: We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: ‘The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.’

“I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities.

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school.

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other- that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common Language and literature; and they worshipped the same Gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty! Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: Local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- from many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'Pluribus' instead of the'Unum,' we will Balkanize America assuredly as Kosovo.

"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century -- that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bi-lingual/bicultural country, having established multiculturalism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of ‘Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant sympatric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them.

"Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book "Mexifornia." His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

Speech by Governor Dick Lamm at a 2004 immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, D.C. WikiPedia lists Lamm as Colorado’s 38th Governor. He served three terms.

Victor Davis Hanson was the author of "Mexifornia"
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