Thank you so much, Dr. Fish. You summed it up perfectly. I'm sad that writing an essay on being compassionate and treating others as we would like to be treated feels like opening a can of worms. I really hope we as a nation (and as a world) can re-learn kindness.
Wishing you and your readers a safe, snuggly, and joyful Thanksgiving.
I agree, it's definitely sad that before hitting send on my "don't be mean to strangers" post I was mentally prepared to lose subscribers (at least one did leave right after) :/
Well, here is your first comment: thank you for writing this, and sharing the story of the migrant teens (or pre-teens) on the train in Italy.
I fail to understand why so many people fear and despise those they consider to be “other.” How they don’t see those who are different as equally human and deserving of dignity and respect, and how about kindness?
I also don’t understand the fear that immigrants are “stealing” resources from host countries, and the complete failure to understand that there is enough for all of us. As long as we live with a scarcity mentality, we will always fear having what is “ours” taken by someone else. This way of thinking makes us selfish, defensive and possessive.
Like you, I fear the rising tide of authoritarianism and anti-immigration sentiment. I have a hard time believing that Trump’s proposed immigration policies resonate with ANYONE but a minority. Apparently I think people are more influenced by the “better angels” of their nature than they actually are, because he is certainly resonating with a good sized chunk of the American populace.
My maternal grandmother and her parents were immigrants from Croatia (then known as Yugoslavia) and came to this country around 1910. My great grandfather opened a restaurant - as you mentioned, one of many immigrants to start a new business in a new country - and my great grandmother worked in a laundry. Neither of them ever learned much English, and when my grandmother started school in Bisbee, AZ, where the family settled, she couldn’t speak a single word of English - but she learned quickly.
When she was 17 she married my grandfather, a Native American of Cherokee ancestry.
Is there any one of us in this country who can’t trace our ancestry back to those who are from other countries? I don’t think so.
Why we are so inhospitable to immigrants now, in 2023, is something I just cannot comprehend.
Thank you for sharing. I completely agree. The "immigrants are stealing our jobs" line is false for a bunch of reasons, but to focus on agriculture specifically, where the vast majority of workers are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and South America: *NOBODY* wants to do those jobs! I can attest to that, it was back-breaking, horrible labor. The owners of the farms I worked on were offering $15-20 an hour for local US citizens back in the early to mid 2000s and couldn't get any takers. I'm not sure they would get many applicants if the salary was double, and anyone who took those jobs would likely not last long. Everybody wants cheap food, but they don't like what it takes to produce it.
Thank you so much, Dr. Fish. You summed it up perfectly. I'm sad that writing an essay on being compassionate and treating others as we would like to be treated feels like opening a can of worms. I really hope we as a nation (and as a world) can re-learn kindness.
Wishing you and your readers a safe, snuggly, and joyful Thanksgiving.
I agree, it's definitely sad that before hitting send on my "don't be mean to strangers" post I was mentally prepared to lose subscribers (at least one did leave right after) :/
Well, here is your first comment: thank you for writing this, and sharing the story of the migrant teens (or pre-teens) on the train in Italy.
I fail to understand why so many people fear and despise those they consider to be “other.” How they don’t see those who are different as equally human and deserving of dignity and respect, and how about kindness?
I also don’t understand the fear that immigrants are “stealing” resources from host countries, and the complete failure to understand that there is enough for all of us. As long as we live with a scarcity mentality, we will always fear having what is “ours” taken by someone else. This way of thinking makes us selfish, defensive and possessive.
Like you, I fear the rising tide of authoritarianism and anti-immigration sentiment. I have a hard time believing that Trump’s proposed immigration policies resonate with ANYONE but a minority. Apparently I think people are more influenced by the “better angels” of their nature than they actually are, because he is certainly resonating with a good sized chunk of the American populace.
My maternal grandmother and her parents were immigrants from Croatia (then known as Yugoslavia) and came to this country around 1910. My great grandfather opened a restaurant - as you mentioned, one of many immigrants to start a new business in a new country - and my great grandmother worked in a laundry. Neither of them ever learned much English, and when my grandmother started school in Bisbee, AZ, where the family settled, she couldn’t speak a single word of English - but she learned quickly.
When she was 17 she married my grandfather, a Native American of Cherokee ancestry.
Is there any one of us in this country who can’t trace our ancestry back to those who are from other countries? I don’t think so.
Why we are so inhospitable to immigrants now, in 2023, is something I just cannot comprehend.
Thank you for sharing. I completely agree. The "immigrants are stealing our jobs" line is false for a bunch of reasons, but to focus on agriculture specifically, where the vast majority of workers are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and South America: *NOBODY* wants to do those jobs! I can attest to that, it was back-breaking, horrible labor. The owners of the farms I worked on were offering $15-20 an hour for local US citizens back in the early to mid 2000s and couldn't get any takers. I'm not sure they would get many applicants if the salary was double, and anyone who took those jobs would likely not last long. Everybody wants cheap food, but they don't like what it takes to produce it.