We’re living in a strange world. Consider it…
You have the phenomenon of mass exodus…refugees of war and human conflict and, soon-to-be, climate, seeking haven on safer, drier and higher ground abroad…
You have nativists at home clamoring for their governments to slam the door in the face of all comers, especially the neediest of them…
You have leaders, like Trump, as well as others, claiming that we must stick up for and protect our own in the midst of this movement of the masses…
What gets lost in all this is a simple truth. And that simple truth is that we’re all in this together. We have one and only one planetary ship on which to enjoy this one life and we’d better protect it and preserve the life that’s still left on it, or all this talk about “blank first” will go by the wayside and we into the dustheap of human history.
In my blog, Revolutionary Misfit, I talk a lot about the Big US. I like to use the metaphor of the Titanic. You know, that invincible ship that got deep-six’ed by a relatively small floating ice cube. And in that moment, when all was going to hell in a hand-basket, the ordered societal division that had ruled the decks turned into a chaotic quest for survival.
We don’t want to see our planet turn into that…now do we?
But that just might be where it’s headed.
So, what’s the answer and what does it have to do with “expat mindfulness.”
From the perspective of an expat, or those who’ve taken up residence in a host country, that concept does not seem so far-fetched, or it certainly shouldn’t. One thing being an expat for all these years has taught me is an endearing respect for immigrants, since I have voluntarily become one myself.
A couple years ago my wife and I decided that maybe we should move back to the U.S. for a while. We were having a hard time economically and we hallucinated that perhaps things could be better.
She’s a Colombian born citizen, but a Costa Rican nationalized one. Through our marriage she was able to obtain a U.S. visa. So, off we went. Little did we realize how hard it would be for her to move from the status of a tourist to that of resident, or even citizen. Let me tell you folks, it ain’t easy and certainly not cheap. And do you think for a minute that the majority of those poor Central Americans and Mexicans crossing the Rio Grande in search of a better existence, that Trump wants to block with his great wall, have the slightest chance of doing it the “right way?” The answer is no, they really don’t.
And the above doesn’t even begin to touch the plight of Syrian, and other, refugees. Those fleeing, not only from economic misery, but for their very lives. They also have little chance to make it to any semblance of safety unless countries like the U.S. help them. We can do it, but these days we refuse to. We refuse to because of a small us mentality. And that mentality is not the direction this world needs to head in. As Donald Trump likes to say…believe me!
The concept of World Citizenship is not meant to imply open borders. Countries have borders and they should be protected. That’s just the way it is. What it does imply is a different mindset held by those legally within those borders vis-à-vis “outsiders.” They are your brothers and sisters. It doesn’t matter what color they are, what language they speak, or what god they worship…we are all part of the same species living together on this revolving rock called planet earth.
And that, again hopefully, can create a better existence for us now and a better world for the future.
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