Immigration
I have trouble understanding the mindset that is anti-immigration, legal or illegal.
This makes me end up on the left of normal left-wing parties, I'm aware, but I feel that it should not be a fringe opinion.
I believe in freedom of movement around the world. No one is responsible for their parentage and where they were born - they have no way of influencing that. Yet people are constantly being condemned and villainised because of the language or land of their birth.
Because I am American, I have the privilege of moving about the world with relative impunity, but this does not mean that I can settle anywhere I choose, move anywhere I like.
Due to my choices, Scotland has become home and I am keen to be able to return here if I ever go elsewhere in Europe or the rest of the world. Because I have an American passport, however, if I leave here, I pretty much leave forever. I feel trapped, unable to make and implement choices that, for me, seem sensible and natural.
But I am in a privileged position; at least I can go elsewhere. If I were from Nicaragua or the Philippines, I would struggle to get into any developed nation, being forced to beg someone else to sponsor me, unable to make my life better or add to another economy.
Why am I not allowed to be a citizen of the world, to be able to see all of humanity as my peers, rather than be ostracised and marginalised because of my accent. And yet to be included and accepted, on the other hand, because of my native tongue, my chameleon-esque character that allows my accent to travel wherever I go; were I from Poland, I would be the perpetual outsider.
So much of one's nationality is entirely based on one's accent. In the end, no one cares, really, what you look like these days - just what you sound like. Obama is safe, because he doesn't have an "African-American accent" (I presume he says ask rather than axe), but Jesse Jackson isn't, because of his stereo-typical black cadences.
In the end, I'm receiving the message that I am not wanted, am stealing a job that should belong to a Brit, and haven't put enough money into the economy to be worth any bother.
I'm working hard not to believe it... and am hoping that everyone I know really thinks seriously about their ideas, bigoted or not, about immigration, the nature of being human, whether race/nations exist, and vote accordingly. Please, please, have a look at manifestos and policies in this election and remember that immigration isn't just an scare-mongering behemoth that is trying to destroy the UK or the US, but has a real face... including mine, and other friends you dearly love. Please don't make our lives more difficult.
This makes me end up on the left of normal left-wing parties, I'm aware, but I feel that it should not be a fringe opinion.
I believe in freedom of movement around the world. No one is responsible for their parentage and where they were born - they have no way of influencing that. Yet people are constantly being condemned and villainised because of the language or land of their birth.
Because I am American, I have the privilege of moving about the world with relative impunity, but this does not mean that I can settle anywhere I choose, move anywhere I like.
Due to my choices, Scotland has become home and I am keen to be able to return here if I ever go elsewhere in Europe or the rest of the world. Because I have an American passport, however, if I leave here, I pretty much leave forever. I feel trapped, unable to make and implement choices that, for me, seem sensible and natural.
But I am in a privileged position; at least I can go elsewhere. If I were from Nicaragua or the Philippines, I would struggle to get into any developed nation, being forced to beg someone else to sponsor me, unable to make my life better or add to another economy.
Why am I not allowed to be a citizen of the world, to be able to see all of humanity as my peers, rather than be ostracised and marginalised because of my accent. And yet to be included and accepted, on the other hand, because of my native tongue, my chameleon-esque character that allows my accent to travel wherever I go; were I from Poland, I would be the perpetual outsider.
So much of one's nationality is entirely based on one's accent. In the end, no one cares, really, what you look like these days - just what you sound like. Obama is safe, because he doesn't have an "African-American accent" (I presume he says ask rather than axe), but Jesse Jackson isn't, because of his stereo-typical black cadences.
In the end, I'm receiving the message that I am not wanted, am stealing a job that should belong to a Brit, and haven't put enough money into the economy to be worth any bother.
I'm working hard not to believe it... and am hoping that everyone I know really thinks seriously about their ideas, bigoted or not, about immigration, the nature of being human, whether race/nations exist, and vote accordingly. Please, please, have a look at manifestos and policies in this election and remember that immigration isn't just an scare-mongering behemoth that is trying to destroy the UK or the US, but has a real face... including mine, and other friends you dearly love. Please don't make our lives more difficult.