by LJ Frank
Immigrants’ cross borders around the world fleeing from unbearable conditions in their homeland and country. They flee as they have little to no ability to change things where they live. They flee though many of those that remain – protest! And of those people who protest…how many expect to die for their actions? What does the option to live mean for the body and mind that is in hunger? Hunger for a better life.
The borders are not only associated with the USA. Other countries ravaged by war, strife, climate change, starvation, slavery, and other sufferings. People become wary of the inability of both ethical and unethical leaders and horrible environs. And then there’s the inadequate medical resources and medicine, poisonous water, failing political and social structures – dictatorships, fascism, authoritarian, oligarchy…the list is lengthy and disturbing.
Fear strikes deep when you have no perceived way to fight back. Fear cuts broader and deeper when it’s enfolded in paranoia. And if you say no to the authorities, the chance of you or a family member dying on the spot or being imprisoned serves to intimidate.
How do you respond to injustice without the capability to do so?
Fearmongering is ancient. What are the options and opportunities? Foreign intervention? Foreign aid is a useful tool as the stakes for diplomacy reach critical junctures. And yet, the naysayer’s agenda is to create chaos and division. A vacuum in power is short-lived as the lust for it is unending. Middle ground is tough to stake out in a polarized world. Is it easier to send arms than food stuffs and doctors and diplomats? Is it less provocative to assassinate a leader than to send weapons of war? Where are ethics?
And the effect of climate change is real, regardless of how much disinformation is propagated for selfish political and financial reasons. There’s no escape. Passing the blame? It’s easy for the people responsible for the suffering to say, “we are in this all together”.
Daydreaming about heroes and heroines is fun I suppose. Not for me. Life is not a Spiderman, Superman or James Bond, etcetera film. Entertainment in whatever shape or design, is a form of escape that means there’s a wealth factor attached. You have to be the hero and heroine of your own life…or do you try to escape by ending it? The world’s suicide rate continues.
Who fits in? Fitting in exemplifies the agenda of particular corporations, religions, and other social, legal, and power related constructs including the attending rituals that are devised to aid the followers in fitting in and being accepted.
Like rules of grammar, people learn structure. Experience suggests structure creates a foundation for innovative exploration, as well as changing that structure and developing a new paradigm, assuming those in power don’t lose their position and power with the change in structure. Hypocrisy is nothing new. Still, in those scenarios, thinking outside the box is allowed within a predesigned box and staying on the “paper” and within the framework allowed, which changes over time with more knowledge.
New paradigms are wanted. Within the concept of the paradigmatic, literacy itself, is not stasis. Literacy is constantly moving. Adverbs and adjectives attached may no longer fit in an academic styled formula. Literacy is never stagnant nor is it “still” or merely intellectual. A person and their cells, heart and brain are always learning – intellectually, physically, psychologically, and situationally. Leaning is to live itself.
A new paradigm for immigrating and humanity is needed. The paradigms for the 21stcentury will determine if there’s a 22nd century with humans still inhabiting the planet. Will artificial intelligence or human technologies have the final word? How wise, unselfish, and nurturing are humans?
Humanity has a chance.
