Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Uncle Sam and Bathseba

I've been following the hand-wringing over the "immigration problem" amongst many of late. And I can recognize there is a problem of sorts. Truly, we can't accept the whole of the world in to the US, at least, I don’t think we can.

At the same time, especially as it relates to Central America, it seems to me we must own up to our part of the problem. We have pushed “Free” Trade Agreements with our neighbors to their detriment.

Yes, I know they are free nations that could have refused to sign on to any agreements we’ve offered, but we must also keep in mind that the playing ground is not level. According to a couple of sources I found, illegal immigration has increased 60-80% since NAFTA.

You see, most of our Latin American neighbors are not exactly in bargaining positions. They have little choice but to accept what treaties the US offers. And, if they don't, they will be perceived to be an upstart nation like Bolivia, Cuba or Venezuela that the US perceives as a threat. Because of their real life experience with US invasions, overthrows, coups and wars in Latin America, they know that there is a clear and present danger from the US if they don't go along with our wishes.

As I thought about this, I recalled the story from the prophet, Nathan. You may remember Nathan in the Bible, who confronted King David after David had treacherously killed a faithful leader in his army so that David might take his wife, Bathsheba – adding her to his vast harem. Nathan approached the haughty and mighty king, saying:


Judge this case for me! In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor.

The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers.

But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children. She shared the little food he had and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom. She was like a daughter to him.

Now, the rich man received a visitor, but he would not take from his own flocks and herds to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man's ewe lamb and made a meal of it for his visitor.

What shall we do with the rich man in this story?

In our story?

What is one to do with a bully that imposes their own (perceived) best interests on others, regardless if it's in the others' best interest?

What are you to do if you are a farmer and barely making a living selling their goods at the market, when FTA's come in and US agribusinesses can sell their produce at 1/2 the price that you can afford to sell them? Sneak illegally over to the US so that you might feed your family?

I ask, as Nathan asked, what shall we do with this rich, powerful and arrogant person?

Yes, we could say to Nathan, "Well, that poor guy can just go get another lamb!" but to say that would be missing the point of the story indeed and expose on which side we have cast our allegiance.

8 comments:

Alice Clay said...

You know, my own ignorance caught up with me over this issue the other day. I thought it was so simple...If you're here illegally, then you should get out & go home. But of course, things are never really that simple, are they?

I heard an interview with a woman who has been here for a long time. She was brought here illegally by her parents when she was a child. This is her home. She is about my age & she had a child here. Certainly complicates the issue, doesn't it? So now all these years later, we tell her to get out of this country and go back to a country she barely remembers and rebuild a life there? It really challenges my perception of the issue.

Dan Trabue said...

Hey AC.

I think it's a grand thing any time any of us recognizes an issue in its complexity. Black and white is nice, but rare.

Eleutheros said...

Were it not for the juxtaposition of this post and the photo above it, I might have been able to resist a comment because I can't help but speculate that you do not see the irony.

Yes, it immigration problem is of our own doing and almost entirely because of NAFTA. CAFTA is only going to make it much worse.

But the "Why, all you people just come on up, the more the merrier!" view is based on the fact that most North Americans live a very artificial life.

Once during a discussion an immigrant told the group proudly, "I came here penniless and now I am paying taxes!"

Oh really? And how much topsoil did you bring with you? How much water? How much timber and other resouces? How much landfill space?

We in the US (as a whole) earn our extravant livelihoods, the very livelihoods the immigrants just looking for a better life want to emulate, .... we 'earn' those livelihoods by raping the planet and expoiting the other peoples of the world. Is what you want to say, "Come on up to have a piece of the American dream and let's all rape, pillage, and exploit the world all the more!"?

Your man, Francisco, is farmer after my own heart. I too raise almost all the food for my family with a hoe and shovel. Your farming lesson not withstanding, I have an empathy with Francisco you cannot have. We, Francisco and I, are hermanos huerteros. He and I understand, unlike the gringo liberal who views a country's wealth as a big pie to be sliced up equitably, that in the end that what will feed and support our families must be wrested from the earth with shovel and hoe. Else we must steal it from the resources of the rest of the world or plunder it from the environment.

How do you think Francisco would feel if a couple million of us moved into his country and demanded our share of the limited farmland and water?

Only someone given over to plunder and rape as a morally acceptable lifestyle would fail to see the problem of 25 million people showing up in another country and demanding to participate in that plunder.

Eleutheros said...

AC:"I heard an interview with a woman who has been here for a long time. She was brought here illegally .... So now all these years later, we tell her to get out of this country and go back to a country she barely remembers and rebuild a life there?"

I knew of a couple who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars and used the money to buy a house and lifestyle in a very upscale part of town, the only life their child had ever known. They were eventually caught, sent to prison, and all the money they had stolen was returned to rightful owners.

Now, the child is totally innocent. Does it follow that the parents should be allowed immunity from prosecution and be allowed to keep all the ill gotten wealth because to take it from them would be a hardship on the child who had done nothing wrong?

As a matter of practicality we don't view it that way. We don't blame the courts or the victim of the embezzlement for the child's suffering, we blame the parents for their disregard of the law and the vicitm's rights.

The alien to whom you refer is not different. If she must return to the her country of birth, it is her parents' who are to blame. She has been living a life based on the commission of a crime no less than the child of the embezzlers.

Dan Trabue said...

E. said:
"But the "Why, all you people just come on up, the more the merrier!" view is based on the fact that most North Americans live a very artificial life."

But I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting our policies are encouraging folk to move here and we need to have policies that let people live sustainably where they are.

Quit yer hating.

Eleutheros said...

Dan:"Quit yer hating."

Oh, I will. Just as soon as you 'quit yer plundering.'

It is your plundering that is driving our southern neighbors here far more than my hating. It is your plundering that dictates government policy. No body pays a bit of attention to my hating.

Dan Trabue said...

Brotherman, I'm trying. I'm trying.

Erudite Redneck said...

I think it's a grand thing any time any of us recognizes an issue in its complexity. Black and white is nice, but rare.