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Reforming a...fence!
by Thanos Kalamidas
2007-03-14 09:24:08 |
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For the ones of my generation who thought that the Berlin Wall was the last wall to separate people and societies, the Israeli wall was definitely a disappointment and a monument to the fact that people don’t learn. When the US started building its own wall on the borders with Mexico I think it was more than just a disappointment, it was a shock.
The truth is that the border with Mexico has been the passage of South American poverty to North American paradise for decades and there are probably thousands, not only Mexicans, who have crossed the magic line that separates the two worlds. But never forget that these immigrants, even the illegal ones, made a financial move to the center of capitalism with their consumptive new horizons and promoting North American goods back to their countries of origin.
Some found paradise, the majority found dignity and only a few found the bars of a prison, but that is the same with any society. Furthermore, the US should know it is not a country made from aristocrats and lords but a country made from immigrants and, in its beginning, weren’t the most popular and the innocent who immigrated there.
But as I said before, these immigrants who crossed the Mexican border, even the illegal ones, refreshed constantly the American economy and what that means is something we know well in our aging Europe that needs to follow Germany’s example with hard measures to save the pension system.
So when America started talking about a wall that came as a surprise. Imagine now if Europe starting building a wall around the EU countries, around Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Latvia or Estonia. It sounds like one of these futuristic B-movies, but the US has started doing so until George W. Bush found out that this was the end of his presidency and his mistakes and failures might cost the Republican Party much more than a term in the opposition. It will probably cost them the exile in the backseats of the opposition for longer, much longer. So he decides to do something.
Europe is out of the question, his closest ally is facing doom as he tries to postpone as much as he can his resignation from 10 Downing Street. Other allies? Let's see, the traditional, no way Germany and France don’t feel very comfortable after the declarations about ‘Old Europe’. The ‘New Europe’ countries are fine, but how often can you visit them. The Far East is…too far and the Middle East with Africa is also out of the question. Australia…definitely too far. What’s left? South America!
Let's see now, South America means… Hugo Chavez, so let's play it safe here. Visit only Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and now Mexico! And there he did his best comment. He promised to reform the controversial immigration laws. By the way, the Americans don’t call it a wall but a…fence!
Back to the reforms in the immigration laws. The man is definitely joking or he thinks that he’s still talking to the kindergarten like he did on 9-11. He actually spent three years of his presidency creating and passing through Congress these immigration laws and now when he sees that history will try hard to forget him, he’s promising to reform the laws in the one year that is left to him?
In the era we built bridges between civilizations, it is a pity that the US, the very same country that used to build bridges, is now ready to erect a fence to a culture that has helped them so much from her birth!
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