What Do David Beckham and Illegal Mexican Immigrants Have in Common?

From before its establishment as an independent nation to the point at which you began reading these words, America has relied upon immigrants. The United States has been forged into the unique entity it is today because of the influence of those citizens from other countries around the world. The Mexican hoping to carve out a better future for his family is absolutely no different whatever from the Pilgrim in black and white who preceded him by a few centuries.

Well, actually, the Mexican or even the Briton who leaves his homeland in search of a better life in America is somewhat different from the Pilgrim and that differentiation lies mostly in motivation. What motivates most foreigners to travel to America for a new life today? Simple: American entertainment. The concept that the United States is a land of milk and honey where everyone regardless of their present social station can begin anew with a clean slate and even potentally lift themselves from abject poverty to the kind of wealth enjoyed by illiterate athletes and performers with no obvious talents is the carrot that is dangled before the lathering mouths of immigrants. The poor little family barely able to subsist on the farm made of hard Mexican dirt is, when it comes right down to it, absolutely no different from the legendary soccer player from Manchester, England. Both the Mexican dirt farmer and the soccer star looks to the images of America that are our nation's sole remaining worthy export. Whether one has enough money to see only poorly dubbed tapes of Hollywood movies, or whether one watches ESPN on a big screen television in London, the motivation remains the same: America is the place where things can always be better, no matter what your situation is.