Why are immigrants sometimes blamed for some ills of their adopted country?

Complaints Corner
1
I just would like to understand why it is that you sometimes hear far-right groups in Western countries, especially European ones, blaming immigrants for such and such thing. For example, some Greeks are blaming migrant workers for the debt crisis:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-0...crisis/3652092

2
Because it's easier to pass the blame.

Have you noticed, that if you point at someone, one finger is going forwards and three are pointing back at you. Ironic eh?

3
It is because we are a tribal species, ever since humans learned how to bang the rocks together it always has been a case of "us" and "them," one bunch of monkeys hating the bunch of monkeys in the next tree and if enough of the other monkeys stray into your tree, then, if anything bad happens is their fault.

The rest as they say is just cosmetics.

4
I have seen the light. Young children dont like those different to them. "Gasp"

Too many do-gooders are trying to annihilate human nature! It dont work that way!

5
It is human nature (and animal instincts) to band together with like-minded people/animals.

People or animals which seem strange, are shunned by the majority.

Therefore it is natural for the majority (assuming natives) to point the finger at the stranger (foreigner). And it is even more easier to blame the foreigners for any malfunction in the society.

Then the evil cycle comes full circle, when the ostracized individual (or small group) fight back, and the natives would then say "I told you so"....

Happens exactly same thing in Forums too... (just a smaller population, if you think about it).

6
Hmmm..... I'll ask an American Native next time I see one.

7
It's rare for humans to stick their hand up and take the rap for their own mistakes.

There's a case in the aviation world, which has it's own name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_2

Captain Kohei Asoh: "The Asoh defense"

In his 1988 book The Abilene Paradox , author Jerry B. Harvey said that Asoh, when asked how he had managed to land the aircraft in the bay, replied "Asoh f**k up." Harvey termed this frank acceptance of blame the "Asoh defense", and the story and term have been taken up by a number of other management theorists.

8
Don't you ever get tired whining about being ganged upon and discriminated? Maybe you should make a sig out of it, and in the meantime entertain us with something more....constructive?

9
Might be that blaming the stranger could be a traditional male thing to combat the invader.

A foreigner brings fresh genes, new ways of reality interpretation, maybe good ideas,

but at least in the beginning he is/was out of social control and restriction (what makes him attractive and a competitor with male leaders).

10
My post addresses the OP.

Your post?

The definition of a troll is...?

11
Someone who uses any excuse to turn a thread into a self-pitying pulpit.

12
It's the Cylons!

13
Are you able to make out the different between an american native and whatever ?

14
Overheard this morning from one foreigner to my spouse:

Wife: Why are you here in Switzerland? (or something like, why you still stay in Switzerland after so long)

Foreigner (female): Because we love the swiss money. Only the money BUT other things not so good. We stay because of the good money....

To be clear, I am DISGUSTED with this sort of mindset.

I promptly walked away (not that I was in that conversation anyway).

I felt so ashamed to hear that. Why are these people saying things like that?

So....is it any wonder that some locals are "so wrong" when they openly dislike foreigners? Some foreigners just cannot or do not know how to behave.

Next, when I drove to a COOP carpark (I am on mainroad), windows down to take ticket, a caucasian driver (coming out of the same carpark entrance, I obviously have right of way because I am on main road), started to stare at me, and shook his head at him, as if indicating I am doing something wrong...?!@#!@#

What?

What is wrong? I was not speeding, I turned with no cars in sight except him.

Does he expect me to let him turn into main road first?

He simply stared at me, while I turned into the carpark entrance, and shook his head from side to side....what's wrong with these people? Do they know the right of way highway code?

PS: I am not whining nor self-pitying etc, I am just making an observation and writing it down to share.

15
Every driver, knows he is the only one which knows how to drive,including myself

16
the Greeks are not blaming immigrants, they are blaming in part people who are in their country illegally. and this is hardly a "far-right" issue - the economic and other burdens of people who are in another country illegally can be significant (the article suggests that the burden on the Greek economy is in the range of 6BB EUR).

17
So, let's put this into relation: What does 6B EUR mean for Greece?

According to the chief of the Greek tax authorities do rich Greeks dodge around 45 B EUR. Every year! That's not only seven times as much as all illegals cost - it is some 15% of the GDP! Honestly: Show me a social welfare system that would not implode if the rich backed by apparently corrupt or unbelievably incompetent (and yes, I for one believe the first of the two options) politicians so shamelessly break the law.

”Tax evasion in Greece has reached 12 to 15 per cent of the gross national product,” he told Germany's Die Welt newspaper. “That is €40 to €45bn per year. If we could recover even half of that, Greece would have solved the problem. Our politicians have begun to understand that.” ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...e-evasion.html )

As unpopular the statement of Ms Lagarde was: This is not some evil plot put on Greece by some evil foreign powers - if they would simply pay their own taxes and follow their own laws was there no problem at all. Blaming either poor illegal immigrants or Mrs Merkel is simply looking for a scapegoat to point at. This makes elections easier than "We cheated you masses of common people for decades and amassed a lot of debt... sorry for not enforcing the law, but you now have to pay the bill"

18
The excuse of the rich in Greece is basically an amplification of the excuses of most of the rich everywhere: "We will not pay taxes to such a corrupt/ incompetent/ irresponsible gov't because it will go into the pockets of politicians/ functionaries/ or even actually benefit the common good. And THAT we don;t want to do. In order to further OUR causes, we will bribe/ reward our particualr network of politicians/ functionaries in order to further OUR personal and business interests". By the way, the same is done by all the international BIG businesses that do business in Greece (see: Siemens scandal, Munitions sold to Greece by DE and FR. etc).

19
you must get DISGUSTED A LOT here in Switzerland then