Green card question becomes a morality referendum April 23, 2006 6:57 PM   Subscribe

I read this as question for help on legal matters (I know...thats a separate topic) but people seem to be interpreting it as a morality question with statements such as "Why do you think a person with such low ethical standards would make for a positive contributor to the US " - and its starting to derail the thread.
posted by vacapinta to Etiquette/Policy at 6:57 PM (15 comments total)

good thing you caught this before the whole of MetaFilter came crashing down.
posted by Hat Maui at 6:59 PM on April 23, 2006


it seems like 1 comment was derailed by one other comment. I think both of those comments should be deleted, but I don't know if the whole thread is being derailed, yet.
posted by shmegegge at 7:11 PM on April 23, 2006


The tail end derail was removed, hopefully it can get back on track.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:36 PM on April 23, 2006


Since Metafilter did come crashing down....I wanted to add:

What could the original poster have done to avoid this? In most other cases there was a wording problem involved. Here, at least I cant see anything they could have done differently...or did I miss something?
posted by vacapinta at 8:37 PM on April 23, 2006


What could the original poster have done to avoid this? In most other cases there was a wording problem involved. Here, at least I cant see anything they could have done differently...or did I miss something?

Maybe added "No ethical judgements, TIA." :P
posted by delmoi at 8:51 PM on April 23, 2006


Btw, before my comment was deleted I responded to this (extant) comment:

...Your friend wants to defraud the government in order to get a greencard. Why do you think a person with such low ethical standards would make for a positive contributor to the US or even the local business community?

I pointed out that ethically lax people can also contribute to society. Bill Clinton did lie under oath, for example, and corrupt politicians accomplish things all the time. Nixon started the EPA. Etc, etc.
posted by delmoi at 8:56 PM on April 23, 2006


And of course the fact that every single human being occasionally has an ethical lapse. Jesus christ you people.
posted by xmutex at 10:57 PM on April 23, 2006


He never had one.
posted by quonsar at 3:34 AM on April 24, 2006


I don't think the OP did anything "wrong", but immigration stuff seems to bring out the black and white "if you're doing nothing wrong you've got nothing to hide" and "them's the rules, love it or leave it" in people.

There's nothing fair, or equal, or understanding about USCIS or the immigration process. Like I said on the thread, living in America isn't a reward for people who were extra good in their own country. This stuff pisses me off.
posted by crabintheocean at 4:48 AM on April 24, 2006


vacapinta: "What could the original poster have done to avoid this? In most other cases there was a wording problem involved. Here, at least I cant see anything they could have done differently...or did I miss something?"

Better yet, is there some dance we can do or herb we can take to prevent all snarking, trolling, derailing, and self-linking? A cure-all would be extremely convenient. I read somewhere that fish oil sometimes works.

Grumpy people snark. Opinionated people derail. It's the Nature of the Internets.
posted by Plutor at 6:11 AM on April 24, 2006


I agree with crabintheocean, there's three or four types of replies that always come up in immigration questions & posts - I'm surprised we haven't seen "my parents came legally 40 years ago so I don't undertsand why these people . . . ." yet! But there are some people here who are always very good on immigration Qs.

Maybe added "No ethical judgements, TIA."

Yeah I think that's the solution as far as wording, but I can't imagine it would ever help.
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:15 AM on April 24, 2006


I usually snark when I need a drink.

oops. you know what that means.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:34 AM on April 24, 2006


quonsar gets a lot of mileage out of His capital letters.
posted by cgc373 at 9:24 AM on April 24, 2006


(casts the first stone)
posted by I Love Tacos at 12:12 PM on April 24, 2006


And of course the fact that every single human being occasionally has an ethical lapse. Jesus christ you people.
posted by xmutex at 10:57 PM PST on April 23 [!]


He never had one.

Actually, if you buy into the Book of Judas, then he may have had one by his essentially telling Judas to betray him, but not cluing everyone else in. But otherwise, untarnished record.

yes, I'm just typing for fun
posted by davejay at 2:53 PM on April 24, 2006


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