September 2, 2015 7:39 AM

It's time to decide: What kind of world do we want to be?

In the coming months and years, we have to re-integrate two minorities at once: On one side, there are the refugees staying with us long-term and on the other side are the “concerned citizens,” representatives of the culture of fear. It’s likely that the second group will be more difficult. This is a historic challenge. How we master it will decide on where this country will be headed. It all boils down to the question: Does Germany want to remain the cheerful World Cup country that many of us would like to live in?

Here in America, we can afford to be blissfully ignorant about the refugee crisis. After all, it’s half a world away, and it’s not as if we have destitute, desperate refugees clambering across our borders (Yeah, about that….). This humanitarian crisis- and that seems a horrible understatement- may not affect the day to day lives of Americans, but I’d argue that in the coming months and years we’ll have every bit the obligations we’d ascribe to Germany and other European countries.

The truly sad part of this equation is the human tragedy- people forced from their homes by war, hunger, and a fundamentalist Islamofascist sect bent on taking the Middle East back to the 3rd century as they destroy its history and culture along the way. No person with even the barest shred of humanity wants to see people suffering…but the debate turns on the question of who’s going to step up and take responsibility. Who will take in refugees and accept the obligation to house, feed, clothe, and care for them? In Germany’s case, accommodating 800,000 refugees is not an easy thing to contemplate, but it’s a necessary thing from a humanitarian standpoint. The commitment is far more than just financial, and the strain it will place on Germany (and the rest of Europe) is considerable. How do you assimilate hundreds of thousands of people when so many of your own citizens are out of work? Even more importantly, how do you do make already-traumatized refugees feel welcome when so many are so adamantly against them being there? How do you take care of others while also looking out for your own citizens?

The anti-immigrant minority in Germany is small, but it is growing…and as Germany goes, so likely will the rest of Europe. The West is not yet fully removed from the recession created by 2008’s global financial meltdown. Bringing hundreds of thousands of foreign refugees into an environment still recovering economically is in many respects like adding gasoline to the embers of a slow-burning fire. The resulting conflagration can- and will- go a long way toward determining whether Europe is in fact what it wants to see itself as- a sanctuary and protector of human rights.

The pressure currently on Germany (and, very soon, the rest of Europe) will (and should) come to our shores before too much longer. There are few countries in the world with the economy and infrastructure capable of taking in large numbers of refugees. Even in our current anti-immigration atmosphere, we owe it to our belief in our own humanity to open our hearts and our shores to those seeking a place where peace reigns.

It’s a simple question: What sort of world do we want to be? Do we want to be a place that extends a hand to those in dire need? Do we provide those rendered homeless by war and political unrest an opportunity to reconstruct their lives and protect their families? Or will we turn our backs and expect Europe to go it alone and solve a problem it’s unprepared to tackle alone? Do we do what we can to help ease the suffering of others…or do we look away, convinced that it’s not our problem?

What kind of world do you want to live in?

blog comments powered by Disqus

Technorati

Technorati search

» Blogs that link here

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on September 2, 2015 7:39 AM.

The debate over common sense gun control: What debate? was the previous entry in this blog.

Proof you'll never go broke underestimating the (lack of) intelligence of the American Sheeple is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Contact Me

Powered by Movable Type 6.0.8