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Abhinav S wrote:

Why do I feel I have to start worrying?

I considered the soapbox, but too often all you see are rants. I was hoping for a serious discussion, as this is an issue that should transcend politics. (Of course, then there is the old Russian expression: "Everything is politics.")

Thank you for releasing it to the Lounge community.

Jalapeno Bob wrote:

I considered the soapbox, but too often all you see are rants

Jalapeno Bob wrote:

as this is an issue that should transcend politics.

You are correct. I

know very little about the actual immigrant experience in a global context.

I am a programmer, not a student of history. I am looking for an understanding of a complex topic, beyond the "sound bites" of the politicians and the media. This is not happening is just one place, but people are being displaced from many countries and fleeing to many other countries. I can see, from articles in the media, what is not working. The question are: What can work? Are the issues different when it is one displaced family versus a mass displacement? How does society deal with their lack of documentation or education? How does the legal system deal with a marriage involving a woman below the age of consent which includes children? And the answers to these breed a whole host of new questions.

I will seriously consider your reading list. I do know that "How the Other Half Lives" and "Angela's Ashes" deal with the lives of immigrants during the same time period as when my fore-bearers arrived. They have been recommended to me before, but I have yet to find the time to read them.

The response from the community was interesting, but not particularly heartwarming. I had hoped for a more informed discussion. From the responses, it is my opinion that although many members have heard of the issue, only a few members of the community are really aware of the reality of this issue.

The good news is that the community was respectful in their responses, keeping within the tone of the Lounge. No "flames" were posted.

We are programmers. Most of us are not movers and shakers in the world. To me, many of us appear to show very little interest in the world at large. I was hoping to shake their complacency a little and get them to at least think about the issue and the philosophical implications. As the famous Hungarian mathematician George Polya said:

This seems so obvious that it is often not even mentioned, yet students are often stymied in their efforts to solve problems simply because they don’t understand it fully, or even in part. (Polya, George, How To Solve It, 1945)

I am very content to leave the practical and political implications of creating solutions to the Soapbox.