Blaming the Blood Instead of the Cut
Immigration Issues aren't that Complicated
When I think about immigrants, I can’t help but wonder why these people want to leave their countries in the first place. And I also wonder what western governments have done to destabilize their countries.
Wars, coups, sanctions and any number of other dirty tricks committed by western governments often make countries unliveable.
And if we’re white and living in one of the formerly colonized western nations, why did our ancestors immigrate? What horrors did they face in their countries of origin to make them want to leave their friends, families and all that was familiar to them?
How were they welcomed to their new countries when they got here? With open arms, at gunpoint, or something in between?
And how did our ancestors then treat the original people living in those countries? A look at what’s going on in Palestine is just the most recent iteration.
If we can’t examine what our governments are doing in other countries to make their inhabitants leave, do we actually have a right to complain about immigration?
Maybe it’s time our societies focused on the cut and not the blood.
If we’re wondering what our role is personally, I think this stand up routine by Aamer Rahmen is both succinct and educational. It’s a great tool for self-examination. If you’re like me, you’ve spent a lifetime unlearning and re-educating yourself, and the journey continues.
I struggle to grasp why so many are leaning to the right politically these days, especially when the right is leaning so far towards the hard right.
These parties focus on the blood — on the people immigrating to their countries — and not on the cut — the policies that are making the countries these people come from unliveable.
Many on the right are climate change deniers. This, while western countries are heavy emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, and the global majority are the ones who bear most of the consequences. This is one of the many symptoms of the environmental racism we experience today.
Isn’t it time for us to stanch the wounds?
Isn’t it time we examined the attitudes that make us think voting for right wing parties is a good idea? Isn’t it time for us to express our wisdom, compassion and understanding boldly for the sake of a better future?
We can’t go on this way, and voting for right wing parties will only make things worse.
As medical workers know, the bleeding always stops.
Will it stop because we’ve destroyed our planet and the life she supports — which is the direction we’re heading in — or will we begin the long process of repair and restoration?
We have the knowledge, resources, ability and connectivity to do this. I only hope we can come to our senses in time to do the right thing.
It’s never too late to learn how to live together in peace and harmony.
"I struggle to grasp why so many are leaning to the right politically these days, especially when the right is leaning so far towards the hard right."
I think there are two reasons. First, when people are scared, they get angry, they seek order. The right-wing brand of authoritarianism promises, structure, rules, a return to the 'old ways.' These parties, rather than holding the powerful to account, provides simple answers - 'it's the poor,' 'it's the immigrants,' it's the X.
And then there is the abysmal failure of the "left" - which is just a right-wing party with virtue signaling. The 'left' (I am speaking of Macron, Renzi, Scholtz etc) has sold the people out, privatized their commons, has cut social spending to the bone and dismantled the most of what was once a functioning, robust welfare state. The poor are poorer, the rich are richer, and people are voting for populist change because that's the only change on offer.
'...why so many are leaning to the right politically these days...'
I think it's mainly because those right-wing politicians are purposefully being populist and pretending to care about the socioeconomic struggles many citizens are enduring nowadays, especially the lower and middle classes.
Essentially, their feeding and amping up the deep socioeconomic insecurities of these citizens, thus playing with their emotions in order easily gain support.
But instead of blaming the system itself (which they're very much a part of) for the people's problems, they play up ethnoreligious issues, blame immigrants, etc.