9/29/21

By Josh Rubin

The wealthiest nation on earth, with the most powerful military, with a police force at its borders that is larger and better funded than the militaries of most nations, stands ready to defend its wealth against some of the poorest people on the the same planet. The vast empty spaces within our borders, the hungry job market and plenty do nothing to persuade administrations, Democratic and Republican, that they might re-examine, from a practical, moral, and political point of view, their policy of violent prevention as deterrent to migration. Fear of the foreign, marked by color and culture, lies at the root of our immigration politics, and no one with the power to change things is willing to face down the hatred inspired and exploited by this fear.

And so, those who are watching get to see grotesque events like the extraordinary airlift of Haitians from the borders to a land that cannot sustain them, a daily tragedy that dooms them to lives of suffering and early death. Those that remember Jews being turned away from our ports might want to reflect on parallels.

And for those of us who can stand the vertigo of a view from higher up, watch as the storm clouds gather for the climate apocalypse and humanity takes to higher ground, only to be stopped, by the likes of us, at the gates of gold and guns.