Slow-cooking Barbie

Last night, I overheard a few of my students/customers discussing an issue important to them. No, I'm not talking about getting good grades, graduating on time and earning a big salary. Instead, their subject of choice was illegal immigration.

BAM! WHAM! ZAP! POW! [<== Hints about the effects of pressing the "hot topic" button and its effect on many in the populace]

This afternoon, I stopped at Barnes & Noble [blatant product placement] and bought issue # 500 of MAD magazine [bloated product placement]. I am happy with my place in the universe. Well, happy is too strong a word. At my age, I can no longer read the tiny comics placed in the margins of MAD magazine. Let's just say that I'm satisfied that MAD magazine is still publishing, even if their 1000th issue won't reach the newsstand until July, 2134, well after the UNIX epoch expiration date of 19th January 2038 (but hey, we just passed 1234567890 on 13th February 2009, so symmetry is something worth noting).

Illegal immigration. Hmm... I must admit it's something that crossed my mind before. After all, I contemplated working around EU labor laws in order to live for two years in Ireland, which possibly would have made me an illegal immigrant. I interviewed for a job in Shanghai, China, and would have had to work within labor laws between China and the U.S. if I wanted to work overseas legally. But the issue here is about people other than me, isn't it?

What is illegal immigration? Well, certainly we can only talk about this phrase if we agree to a definition of political entities with well-defined borders between them, typically of geographical nature, but perhaps in the future of virtual bounds.

First of all, human history is chock full of migration. In fact, our species might not exist if it weren't for our tendency to wander from an area of low nutrition to one of high protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins.

These days, we still believe that our political entities are defined not just by names and nationalities but also language and other homogenous cultural features. The general populace in each of these areas accepts the role of others to serve as politicians whose jobs entail reinforcing the idea of nation-states, typically by using references to cultural icons (flags, colors, slogans/themes, history, etc.).

What is a nation-state, though? It's history, that's all it is. It may encompass a people who generally look, act and talk alike. But these days, subcultures abound. The idea of a nation-state having permanence in form and fashion is disproven by history. However, we want to believe we belong to a social group with consistent values, don't we? Humans adapt when necessary but also usually display some semblance of resistance to change.

What is illegal immigration? It depends on your definition of legality.

Do you feel that humans have the right to migrate anywhere in the world or do you feel humans must belong to a geographical/cultural location? Do you want to wander the same neck of the woods your whole life, never stepping out of a comfort zone and expect others to do the same, all of us keeping to our place and culture? If so, how do you expect to buy that inexpensive set of clothes at Wal-Mart/Kmart/Target/Tesco/Go-Lo/Dunnes designed in [Los Angeles, California; Seoul, South Korea; Paris, France; Mumbai, India; Sydney, Australia], made in Malaysia/India/China/Nepal, shipped across land via train, hauled across an ocean or two by ship, transported across your country by truck/rail and delivered to your local discount store? There are many human bodies moving across the globe in just the design, manufacture and transportation of the clothes, let alone the movement of money or the design/manufacture/transport of the transport containers, transportation devices, distribution warehouses, roadways, communication devices, etc.

Instead of illegal immigration being a hot topic, I ask what a person of different culture means to you? Do you live in an area of homogeny or heterogeny? Are you used to a life of the same thing everyday or are you used to variety? There is no right or wrong answer. We were all raised in different environments and have different genetic makeups so we respond to our world around us in billions of different ways, even though variation varies by degree.

Do you expect a nation-state to provide an economic way of life in exchange for you both living within its bounds and giving it annual tributes your whole life? In other words, is a nation-state a sort of lifestyle/retirement insurance fund to you? Therefore, you expect other residents of your nation-state to make annual tributes if they are to receive lifestyle payments?

At lunch today, I sat with a colleague of mine and ate roasted chicken meat, baked beans and banana pudding at Dreamland BBQ while discussing a possible business transaction. We dealt with issues that crossed international boundaries and didn't blink an eye in figuring where portions of the business transaction should take place or which members of another country should be involved. In fact, we didn't even care where people called home. We only concerned ourselves with the added value of each transaction component.

On what do you depend to live? I depend on nothing and expect nothing in return. Every day brings something new. Sometimes I don't like the newness but delight in the fresh view of life the new approach to existence brings me.

I understand that illegal immigration presents something new that many people don't like. The phrase "illegal immigration" has been bought and sold by so many hucksters wanting their piece of the attention/money of their nation-state that most citizens have no personal view on the matter because their thoughts are too filled with the scare tactics and fear-mongering of others who've abused "illegal immigration" for their gain.

I'm not here to change your opinion of illegal immigration. I'm here because I'm figuring out in these words how to reconcile my view of illegal immigration versus the views of others. I don't see illegal immigration as a personal problem to me because I have lived my life as a global citizen, even though I was born in and by birth have been automatically declared a citizen of the United States of America. I operate on the global stage, buying, selling and negotiating deals across [imaginary] international borders. I believe that very few people operate only within the borders of their nation or community, especially from within this or any other "developed" country. Grocery stores sell food grown and transported from other countries. Discount stores sell merchandise from other countries. Newspapers carry stories from other countries.

Nation-states do not offer the same level of economic support to their citizens. Some provide social services superior to that of the U.S.A. Some provide nearly no services. Some tax their citizens heavily, with the citizens believing they pay these taxes as a duty or burden to bear for citizenship, a "right" that all humans deserve in being supported by their fellows of economic means. As humans once migrated to areas of better nutrition, is it the fault of our human nature in this era of prosperity to want to migrate to areas of better social services because life is not fair and some were unlucky by the fate of their country of birth?

In this blog entry, I don't have any answers. I see why illegal immigration is a contentious problem for some and a desperate move by others. I will repeat my thoughts on this issue more than once in blog entries, if I haven't done so already, because I see other people's emotional outpouring and wonder if, as a middle-aged adult, I should have a wise position on the issue to share with them to get them to put adrenaline aside and look at rational reasons for ignoring illegal immigration in their thoughts.

Phrases like "illegal immigration" are usually meant to rile us up. Anytime someone wants your money, look for emotional triggers like "illegal immigration." From a rational viewpoint, there are costs and benefits associated with living in a community. We also expect certain checks and balances to keep all of us safe from unnecessary harm and protect our way of life. Instead of letting others push your buttons, take the time to look around your community and see if you're directly affected by the phrase, "illegal immigration." Do you receive inexpensive goods and services, such as roofing, lawncare or farmers' market produce, because a business owner is taking advantage of migrant workers who have no legal protection? Is your local medical facility overwhelmed with offering free medical care to those without medical insurance, including both legal and illegal residents? What is the actual percentage of road accidents by legal and illegal residents (in other words, don't let headlines fool you)?

Don't let a phrase substitute for hard facts. Those who migrate from one area to another are giving up something in order to get something else. Not every loss is a gain or vice versa. Job opportunities might be better but loss of family, displaced sense of place in society and a person's homesickness may force a person into an early grave through chronic illness. At the same time, meeting a person who has migrated into your area may teach you new skills you would never have learned.

Life is full of missed opportunities. Today, I enjoyed chicken BBQ because I didn't want to miss the opportunity for a business colleague and me to close an international deal. We wouldn't have had our meeting had we let a phrase like "illegal immigration" stand in our way. We have both stood on the soil of other countries as immigrants and learned new ways to look at the world although we were born in little towns - he born in Arab, Alabama, and I born in Bristol, Tennessee. I urge you to broaden your horizons and seek these same opportunities. Let nation-state politicians have their rhetoric and regionalism so you can take the world for yourself through rationalism and globalism.