German Soccer team: A lesson on the value of Immigration

When Argentine and German soccer teams entered the field in the quarter-finals of the World Cup held in Southafrica, a group of kids came with them with a flag with the legend "say no to racism". This politically correct phrase was a real value for the German team. About one third of the members of its team were immigrants or sons of immigrants. You can see in among them Turkish, Spanish, Brazilian, and Polish names.

Despite this crisol of races, the team played the same way as all previous selections from that country: Tactical discipline, speed and force were actual values for this selection, the same way it was for previous ones, as those who won the World Cup in Germany in 1974 and in Italy in 1990. But something changed this time. These values were complemented with spots of the technical virtuosism that usually came from Southamerican teams. Beautiful combinations and improbable passes among its forwarders were a refreshing breeze in a World Cup that was dominated by conservative teams.

It is impossible not to link these two realities. We are in front of a real German team, with the enrichments of new sport values given by newcomers to their country. Germany is still Germany, but a better one. This is a prosaic example of what immigrants can do for their host countries. Historic cases can be found by hundreds.

In the south of Chile the immigration of German and Swiss families in the mid XIX century lead to a huge development of the industry in the area that soon became an example for the rest of the country. At the end of the same century and at the beginning of the following one, the Arab immigration helped the development of the textile industry and trade. At the same time in Brazil, German, Italian, Arab and Japanese immigration created in the south of the country a strong industrial pole. The United States was formed by immigrants coming first from the Netherlands and England, and afterwards from Italy, Ireland, China, Latin-America and, of course, from Africa.

Examples on the opposite side also exist. At the end of the XV century Spain was unified under the kings Fernando and Isabel. They defeated the last Arab positions in the country. Spain became shortly the most powerful country in Europe because of the wealth found in America. Indeed, Isabel ordered that all Islamic and Jewish people should abandon the country. Loosening these people probed to be a mistake. Spanish power diminished as Jewish and Arab took with them trade and industrial capabilities that weren't fulfilled for the next 400 years.

Mario Gomez Garcia is a German player. His father probably never realized when he lived in Granada that one of his sons will play for the German team. Indeed he is a 100% German player, and Germany is taking full advantage of his capabilities. Immigration is a benefit for the recipient country. It is fair to regulate it, but you can't and you shouldn't stop it.