Immigration: one world?

America has it all; a president with love it or hate it, global attention and many of the most remarkable and impressive sights in the world. It is now a diverse mix of cultures, smells and tastes and this changes its identity in many ways. The United States is no longer the country it was and will never be again, whatever restrictions Trump places on immigration. People have become America, and America is a product of its people. And on a recent trip to New York I had the pleasure of enjoying the benefits; The best American Italian pasta marinara I’ve ever had and how open people are when forced to blend in and communicate with people with different traditions, tastes, and dislikes. One thing the people of the United States seem to agree on is their love for their country, and they are willing to do anything to protect it. They see America as a wise parent who has taken them under his wing and given them the fuel and love they needed to prosper and succeed. This sense of acceptance of diversity has been brewing for many years and many have perished and died in the process.

Now look at Sweden, which is an apparent much more recent immigration crisis. Millions of people in need of refuge have come to the country in search of a better life for themselves and their families. They have been well cared for by the government and most will say that the Swedes have welcomed them and helped them to integrate into society. However, there is a dark side. Some Swedes resent the changes that have occurred as a result of the arrival of these people who look and act so differently from them. They see unemployment rise, crime rates skyrocket, the economy suffers, and they don’t see the benefit that these newcomers offer the country. These people seem to take more than they give and their beautiful cities are now covered in trash and graffiti. Can you blame them for being a little resentful? I myself have seen the country change dramatically in my life and, at the age of 36, it has been difficult for me to understand the deterioration of the country. Having grown up in London, but visiting Sweden regularly, I was struck by how multiculturalism seemed perfectly normal in London with almost all of my friends from some exotic country, but so abnormal in Sweden.

However, I now realize that the situation in Sweden is not final, but simply part of a process that the world is going through. The nations of the world have a choice: they can close their doors or leave them open. The instinctive reaction to change or uncomfortable situations is to close all doors and remember the past. It’s easier than taking hesitant steps into an unknown future. We know how to control that works like we have for years and our ancestors before us. Our identities become concrete and we draw comfort from a community of like-minded people when we keep strangers out. However, we are also obstacles to change, and change can be good. The wealth of experience that we have the opportunity to experience throughout our lives increases dramatically. We have the opportunity to go further, achieve things that we did not know we could, meet people and learn from people in a way that enriches our lives and those of those around us. We become less constrained by conformity and the expectations and ideals of society. We become better able to make decisions effectively based on a more balanced perspective of the world, a more objective view.

That is why I travel; to broaden my understanding of what the world is and how people interact and behave when faced with survival and everyday life in general. I long for variety and I look for other cultures to explain my own and why I do what I do. I need to know why I am working, why I am washing, why is it gardening, why it is okay to be thin and not fat, what I do when my baby cries, why I have to lose someone I love and why I have to do the what they tell me, at home, at work, at the supermarket, on the train, in the car. I need to understand the differences of the nations of the world before committing to a nation. I need to understand why I have to commit to a nation when my parents were from two different nations and I was born into a third.

I am not suggesting that multiculturalism can tell us the meaning of life or improve our lives, but it gives us a more balanced perspective on the world and gives us the freedom to ask questions and make decisions based on varied experience rather than just social pressures.

‘One’ world would strip us of our naked truth and remove obstacles to our own failures. It would allow us to think more logically and allow us to collaborate more effectively to tackle serious problems that affect the world, not just a certain radius.

I say we re-evaluate how we do things, remove the physical and metaphorical fences, and learn to find solutions that serve the good of humanity in general, not just those who look and speak like us. Anything else will surely end in a war with catastrophic consequences …

What you think?