I am not going to debate the moral issue. If you are unaffected by the images of children washing up on shore, families torn apart and herded like cattle, and desperation on the faces of people lacking all basic human necessities, that really is indicative of your own lacking of humanity.
If you are concerned that we are importing 25,000 terrorists, that’s another statistically addressed concern with resources widely available. In summary, by and large, refugees are not terrorists. The question of security and logistics with a mass migration is always one that needs to be addressed, and I welcome your informed inquisition our political leaders. Additionally, I suggest that the real concern is people like you, filled with hate, who are pushing Muslim women in front of TTC subways. These people are real threat to Canadian society; they are home-grown and already living here. The attacks in France, which we all so united against, were actually perpetrated by these home-grown haters.
Instead, I would like to remind you that many of your parents and grandparents came to this country for the promise of economic opportunity and higher quality of living. And upon arrival, I know the Italian community was not welcome; in fact, it was hated. By people presumably like you, who thought that Italians, like Hispanics, Blacks, Jews, Chinese, (insert whoever else you hate), and apparently, now the Syrians, were the end of Canada.
Well, Canada is doing all right so far.
Italians were “dirty”, non-English speaking and strange. Well, in short, the Ital-Canadese community ended up getting dirty, actually, building up most of Canada’s greatest cities: Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, alongside the Irish and the Portuguese. They ended up founding large construction companies and “exploiting” (rather, using as designed) the Canadian education system to enable their children to become economically significant members of society: skilled labourers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, civil servants, small business owners, and engineers. Their health care was paid for, freeing up income to own property and pay for the costs of post-secondary education for their children. A life in Canada afforded them an opportunity for growth, not a lifetime of “sucking or leaching” social programs.
I have no doubt that the Syrians, provided Canada still offers these fantastic opportunities, will be able to grow. Before you try to characterize Syrians as lazy, in response. I ask, do you really think lazy and small-willed people walk thousands of kilometers to escape persecution not knowing what reception they will be met with?
For those of you who believe that the world is going to hell with the embracing of refugees, well, that’s very bold statement backed by your own lack of education. I will agree that there is increased political apathy, selfishness, and indifference in modern society. The capitalistic idea of acquiring more and never really having enough is the basis for a lot of our own, self-created social disparity. And, right now, Canada is wealthy and offers refugees everything they need for growth. Faced with the alternative of mass graves and human casualty, I’m okay with spreading my tax dollars a little bit thinner.
(Reminder: if you think our tax dollars already don’t go far enough, that is much more an issue of political transparency and inefficiency. So please, spare me the comment related to government misspending. Trust me, I know the government is doing terrible things with my income tax. That problem has existed long before the Syrians wanted to come to Canada – in case there was any question!
If you think taxes are going to go up, well that’s not actually indicative of a loss for citizens, if the dollars are utilized correctly. In theory, more taxes = increased public services, independent of inefficiencies. Also remember, more tax dollars need to be spent to support the aging baby boomers that failed to prepare themselves for retirement. The refugees didn’t do that either).
As you advocate for helping the homeless and dealing with domestic causes, you are raising a moot point. Why? We have always had the capacity to take care of the homeless, the First Nations, and our veterans. The reality of the matter is policy and funding on these allegedly important issues is a reaction to the interests of the voting populace at the time of election. What this means is that the programs we have in place currently reflect the electorate’s interest in such programs. To be frank, up until contrasting domestic causes with the refugee crisis, we haven’t cared enough about these particular social groups. And so, if you feel that those programs are unsatisfactory, I warmly await the letter you are writing to appeal for these causes that you are allegedly so passionate about. I look forward to your microfunding campaigns, petitions and lobbying. I look forward to you actually doing something, besides writing an uninformed comment to a complex, large-scale problem.
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