Migration

"People see their lies and we will rise

Because you might stop a single man

But you can't stop the tide."

     The Undercover Hippy, 2014

Water seeks its own level.

There is a notion in physics, biology, finance, history, literature, and religion that there are great and inevitable forces which determine the course of everything, from rivers to the destiny of nations and souls.

There are equilibria at work. Brownian motion keeps molecules of air in front of our noses, because the molecules move to where there is room, from higher pressure to lower pressure. We count on that. 

Gravity persists, and humans can build a bridge using arches because we don't defy gravity. We work with it. Sometimes we resist the inevitable. At some point the Mississippi will find its new, shorter and steeper path to the Gulf and New Orleans and Baton Rouge will be left high and dry.

Humans migrate. They do it because they are curious and because they are escaping something worse in search of something better. It isn't a 21st century issue. It is the big story of humans and the constant story of America. 

Rick Millward's guest post triggers the realization that we are treating immigration as an incident, as a current policy problem to address. Trump says we need a wall and Mexico--then the Pentagon--will pay for it.

There is a bigger picture way to perceive this. This is just a moment in the great tide of migration into what is now the United States, a process going on for 13,000 years, accelerated in the last 400 years, and it is as powerful and inevitable as the Mississippi and gravity. The only way to stop it is to make life in the United States more miserable than life everywhere else--a bad option.

Seen in the big picture of an America worth moving to, then the focus needs to change from barrier walls to the process of assimilation and integration. The way to see immigrants as assets is to make them assets.

Are we building levies or are we building an arch? 

As this blog reported yesterday, we have opportunity here. Employers need workers, now, and are eager to pay them. This is an irresistible force. 

Rick Millward is a close observer of the American political landscape. He is also a music producer, singer, and songwriter, living in Medford, Oregon. He performs regularly at local wineries. He produces singer-songwriter showcases, with an upcoming one at RoxyAnn Winery in Medford at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 27.

Guest Post by Rick Millward

"You're either runnin to somethin'
Or running from somethin'"
    Song: Running like me, by Rick Millward

"We should stop calling it immigration and tell it like it is. This is migration: the movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work or better living conditions.

Humans are no different from any other species on the planet in this regard.

Immigration acknowledges this by creating a legal framework to accommodate migrants.

America was settled by Europeans who migrated for the same reasons; economic, religious, political, and that continues to this day. As long as there is some hope of a better life this society will attract those who have the courage and fortitude to make the journey.

We should welcome them. We need them. Instead Regressives would rather turn the country into a place no one would want to come. No migration problems in Russia, China and North Korea.

We should also acknowledge that Latin America, due in a large extent to climate change, is increasingly becoming uninhabitable which is one of the drivers of migration. It's not going to get any better until the industrialized World starts taking steps to decrease CO2 emissions. The United States could lead this effort to combat an existential threat that is far greater than migration."