Immigrants here generally live in tightly-knit ethnic communities (of Chinese or various Central American nationalities), and while many are indeed poor, they also have significant numbers of union members and small business owners.
And the poor don't have it so bad health-wise. They're eligible for Medicaid (top-notch) or Health Plus (second-tier), while as a person who's merely moderate-income, I have to settle for the far inferior Healthy New York.
(Perhaps my tombstone will someday read, "His Job Killed Him, But Not How You Might Expect." I'm feeling various reactionary instincts, but will refrain from putting them into writing.)
I fail to understand the significance you ascribe to density. Yes, our asthma rates are higher than they should be, but having a clinic every few blocks and a hospital every few miles has to work in our favor.
"[S]corned by the native society"? Put away your violin, come down here and show me the native society; I think I must have missed it.
On 8/17/07, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> On the face of it, why should immigrants boost the city's health
> profile? They're poor, displaced, often solitary or separated from
> families, in shitty jobs living densely in poor neighborhoods, and
> either invisible to or scorned by the native society.