Destination America: A Field Report

Guest Post observations from West Africa

     "A few said – they’d probably like to visit and earn some money so they could come back and have a more assets to work with.  Buy some more donkeys or a truck.  But many find what they know of western culture to be offensive to what they value."

                                           John Coster

It's not just "the economy, stupid." It's culture and religion, too.

Today's guest post is a report from Africa, but its main purpose is to give Americans on the political left some perspective on resistance to immigration in America, and Trump's success with the issue.  

Trump describes the issue as a matter of national pride, cultural integrity, and safety. Democrats are treating the issue as a matter of racism vs. non-racism, a frame that a great many Americans consider wrong and insulting. 

Democrats will lose in 2020 if they persist with that frame. 

There is a better one: that immigration is good for America, but like any good powerful medicine it needs to be properly dosed and monitored. The underlying reality is that people like their own familiar countries and way of life. Africa may have "shit hole countries" in Trump's mind, but it is home to Africans. They mostly like the way they do things there, at least per the observations of one observer.  

Americans, too, mostly like our own culture, language, and religion. Change can happen, but not too quickly, or people push back. The result is the right wing populism we are experiencing. So Americans elected Trump, and may well re-elect him. 

Field Report by John Coster

John Coster

John and Patricia Coster are Christian missionaries on a short visit to Africa. "Missionary" will suggest Western colonialism and cultural condescension to some readers; it will suggest sacrificial service to others. John manages large scale construction projects in the United States, particularly ones that use gigantic amounts of electricity in the tech industry. He is also a licensed electrician and he is there to improve the electrical system for the only hospital in an area of hundreds of square miles. "It will literally save children's lives," he said. He is there to do hands-on service.

Coster writes: 

     "A few weeks back, Thad [Guyer] and I had some back and forth discussion about whether the USA was considered the dream destination country for people from impoverished nations. The question was if given the opportunity, would most citizens of poor countries want to immigrate to the US?  

     I’ve just finished my first of three weeks traveling around one of the poorest countries on the planet. How poor? The patient to doctor ratio in the US is about 300:1. Here it is 30,000:1. 

     I’ve spent much of my time here with rural farmers and nomadic herdsmen; asking questions, listening to their stories. Most are semi-literate at best, but they are also highly intelligent, funny, hard-working,  resilient and hospitable.  Most are fluent in multiple languages, and some speak conversational English or French. 

Patricia with friends

     These folks live on the very edge of survival. They have lots of children because mortality is high and the elderly are respected and the family cares for them. Their houses are mostly mud-block and straw roofs. They are fortunate if they have a village well from which to draw potable water. They worry about when to plant the millet or sorghum to coincide with the rainy season. Too soon and the crop dies from unfulfilled rain. Too late and the onset of the rainy season makes planting impossible and ends before harvest so the crops are a total loss. 

     It’s currently Ramadan which means most people fast from food and water during daylight hours – which here is about 12 hours a day. The heat is withering, with daily high temperatures at 113-115F. I am always orienting my daily routines around where to find shade. I am not fasting with them.

     I have met dozens, from hospital workers to village chiefs and during our visits I ask them if given the chance, would they immigrate to America?  They all think it is a silly question, because going to America is so improbable an event. A few said they would probably like to visit and earn some money and have a few more assets to work with. But some more donkeys or a truck. But many find what they know of Western culture to be offensive to what they value. 

Also, their place is tied closely to their identity and that's more important to them than prosperity--which is something Americans may find hard to understand.

    They think that educating girls is actually morally wrong, and they know that the West thinks that this way of thinking is backward, and we would try to undermine their value system. Women wear veils and head-coverings as a sign of modesty and respect. They know if they moved here, that their whole system would be undone because we value individual choice--to which most American’s would say “Of course!” – which is my whole point I guess.

     By the way, they don't actually seem to mind the heat."