When the European Union launched the notion of open borders among members I thought it was a brave and progressive move. Dogmatic nationalism had been the abiding curse that managed to kill off millions of people over the past century.The off spring of Queen Victoria turned out to be toxic. So…I thought …Europe can set an example and back away from the worst elements of nationalism. I was wrong I think. At least for now the resurgence of xenophobic right wing arguments in response to the shifting of demographics caused by decades of immigration capped with the arrival of the “new refugees” is frightening. None of these things happen in a vacuum. A complex series of events led to the outrageous sitation in Syria and the creation of a devastated population there…likewise the bungled affair of Iraq and the even more extreme case of Afghanistan. I mean…really…really. The U.S. response to 9-11 was to try to obliterate a country that had been returned to the brink of the stone age by the Soviet Union…???What? The majority of the terrorists on those planes and the greatly unloved Osama Bin Laden were Saudi Arabians…not Afghans. O.K. enough of that.
What’s up is that even though nobody is swimming to North America from Eastern Europe this is still a global problem. And to illustrate how welcoming and charitable the response is likely to be…Donald trump is applauded for suggesting that he’d build a wall along the Mexican border (and get them to pay for it!!!) Not long after that another American politician says that they should build a wall along the Canadian border…(well I’m kind of liking that idea …if it keeps those sorts of politicians out of my country…we have enough lunatics of our own thanks).
So I don’t see any bright ideas on the horizon and it’s now September…in three months it will be winter…We need to start thinking about blankets and winter clothing for people stuck in those camps…or worse.
Chagal4's Blog 
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