Immigration

 

Subject: Immigration.


We come again and again to this question, can we identify ourselves with our kith and kin as we always have done or has a new determination arisen where humanity as a whole becomes our determining feature. The swelling immigration crisis from particularly North Africa and the sub continent of India has caused us to extrapolate the influence of culture and religion on the effect that the immigrant brings and their effect on our own culture and religious belief.
The first question to ask is, is having a recognisable culture important. Culture spews out into so much of the fabric which we insist makes us recognisable from others and like dress and manners we attach some value to it. We think that a benign religious observance makes us tolerant towards others who don’t share our beliefs but is this our Achilles heel in not being firm or clear on what “we” stand for. Can we be accused of always apologising and wishing to see the best in others when clearly we are at odds with ourselves.
Should we not have the backbone to say no, I don’t agree with that view of life and oppose its roots being introduced into our way of life. The view that our culture should be in a state of open handed flux and have an acceptance of others is not seen much other than in the west.
The Asian cultures are firmly set in either religious or an ideological setting which affect all aspects of family life and there is no give or take, you are either one of us or you are out.
African culture seems more fragmented by tribalism and because of it, their economic plight economics obtains an almost total hold over their sense of a need of identity.
South America remains a hotch potch of right and left political ideology amongst the ruling class who seem to have either little concern for the people they control or alternatively an almost uncontrollable need to politicise every decision ordinary people make.
In this country ‘democracy’ was the glue which purportedly held the ship together and governed the course it sailed but is coming apart as ‘Influencers’ in the media sow a great deal of confusion. There are as many opinions as there is subject matter and each has a point.
Political parties were a means of shaping the subject matter into achievable goals, not pleasing everyone but gaining sufficient consensus to be acceptable. With the arrival of of an ‘open market’ in having a grievance against something or other the consensus is blown away and a sense of injustice takes its place.
Will the influx of communities who have a strong sense of either their religious place in the order of things and equally an opinion of past injustice urged on them, a by the very country they chose to resettle in, it’s a conundrum we do not need in our weakened position. We have to choose our friends and stop trying to woo over our enemies.
Perhaps we should turn the boats back in the Channel, close to the shore they set out from so they can return safely to dry land. Reassess our obligations surrounding asylum since the current situation is farcical. Have quotas for economic migrants and don’t be afraid to pick and chose who you need. Above all don’t be afraid to reassess the ability of this nation to undergo change, it’s not there anymore (if it ever was) and we are in danger of becoming like the war torn ungovernable states from which these migrants flee.
And no we don’t owe reparations for actions taken in times past when the world was a different place. That includes pollution and the effect of climate change. We can only be judged on our current behaviour and not seek to constantly justify the past with apology after apology.