Friends,
Travel and xenophobia. Our views on these topics are often
tainted by where we started. If you come from an affluent nation, you take for
granted that the doors of every country (outside the “axis of evil”, of course)
will be open. The world is your oyster. Come to think of it, if you are an
affluent member of a poor country, your outlook is not that different. Could it
be the current outbreak of xenophobic paranoia is really a case of wealthism?
(if it wasn’t a word before, it is now!). It’s not that we don’t want
foreigners -America is, after all, a diverse melting pot. We just don’t want
them if they’re poor (uneducated, desperate, bad hombres from ********
countries). Maybe we should update the plaque at the Statue of Liberty. “Give
me your tourists, your rich, your investing partners yearning to breathe free”
–feels more current. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for capitalism and wealth
accumulation as each individual’s reward for pulling themselves up by their own
bootstraps and prospering from the fruits of their honest labor. Still, when I
hear us wealthsplaining (yes, another new word!) about the drug smuggling and
human trafficking crisis, it feels the case being made is too clever by half.
This morning, as I grab a donut and wonder, I challenge you to join me in
questioning your own biases. Who knows, maybe we can be a tad more
compassionate nation, open to the tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to
breathe free.
Happy Friday!
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