They Я Us (we need a process)...
"They Я Us."
“Nationalism does not come in two kinds, ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ Mazzini and Mussolini. Nor does it become virtuous through underdog status or wrongs suffered. It operates along a continuum running from the brothers Grimm to Auschwitz, from philology and folklore and poetry in the service of the national idea to the extermination of neighbors. Not all nationalisms reach extremes. Some national mythologies are more explosive than others. Some political cultures offer greater scope for extremism than their fellows. Weakness or defeat teaches limits.
But the doctrine’s logic drives all impartiality toward domination and extermination.”
(Williamson Murray, The Making of Strategy, States and War, Cambridge University Press, 1994)
We need a process.
From El Paso to Tijuana, we need a path.
It will look different in 2019 than it did in 1892 or 1954...but we've done it before.
We are a nation of immigrants. With noble exception of the First Nation, all of us came from somewhere else.
My great-grandmother (of Gävle, Sweden) left Copenhagen on the ship Norge and entered this country through Ellis Island on May 4, 1900 at the age of 14.
More than anything else, we need a process.
From 1892-1954 more than 12 million immigrants entered these United States through the portal of Ellis Island.
We had a process, and through that portal helped create what the world knows today as a leader of the free world--this grand experiment of American democracy.
America was great then, and America remains great today.
Evidence is found in the number of people who continue to seek Hope for a better tomorrow.
More people seek entry here than any other country on the planet.
We need a process.
Through existing infrastructure, we have the capacity to expand without creating additional, burdensome and ridiculously expensive layers of government.
There is no reason why we do not have similar
immigration processing portals from El Paso to Tijuana.
Humans who seek hope and a better future for themselves and their family are not criminals nor are they invaders.
Portals of entry such as Ellis Island allow for prudent, legal processing and retain the authority to refuse entry by those few with ill intent.
Our diversity must be celebrated and honored...it is the rich variety of ethnic heritage and tradition that makes this an incredible, beautiful planet.
At the same time, if we hope to see a prosperous future for all, our common humanity is what binds us together and must be embraced.
This country is far from perfect (name one that is), yet our desire to honor a government "of the people, for the people, by the people" is as significant in 2018-19 as it was after Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in 1863.
Question: How would you feel if it were your brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers who sought Hope for a better tomorrow in another land?
It is.
They are.
“There is no wall high enough that will protect a nation from evil.
For when hate enters the hearts of her people, evil is already on the inside.”
(Coren Jonathan Allen, The Kambimbi Academy)
Maybe we need some measure of greater security. A deliberate process would solve 99% of this.
Open, porous borders is not the answer--that's as ludicrous as believing that if we build a wall it will solve all crime in this country.
Both sides get it wrong.
A wall wouldn’t have protected the following people who thought they were perfectly safe and going to perfectly normal places…and it won’t bring them back...
High-school:
04.20.1999
Littleton, Colorado, U.S.
No longer with us: 15
The movies:
07.20.12
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.
No longer with us: 12
Elementary school:
12.14.12
Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.
No longer with us: 28
Church prayer service:
06.17.15
Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
No longer with us: 9
The train:
05.26.17
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
No longer with us: 2
Night clubbing:
06.12.16
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
No longer with us: 49
An outdoor concert:
10.01.17
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
No longer with us: 59
Morning worship:
11.06.17
Sutherland Springs, Texas, U.S.
No longer with us: 27
Synagogue:
10.27.18
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
No longer with us: 11
If national debt matters...let's have rational dialogue about Return on Investment (ROI), effectiveness and root causes...and build a process, not a wall.
If public security and safety matters...let's encourage mutual respect, empathy, forgiveness & personal responsibility, not a relentless barrage of Hate-laced ideology spewing from all sides towards "the other."
"They Я Us."
What it it Just Started Raining? It's the most important question no one is asking.
What if there was no 'Other'? (coming soon). It's the second most important question no one is asking.
