IMMIGRATION thread

[SwordsMaster]

Some of us familiar with history will likely remember that in the year 376 a massive horde, in the hundreds of thousands, arrived at the bank of the Danube. These were Goths, driven out of their homes by the merciless plundering of the Huns. Contrary to other peoples who were allowed to enter the already shaky Roman Empire, these Goths had not been massacred, vassalised, or enslaved. There are many reasons why they were allowed in - among others, because the Roman Empire was no longer what it used to be.

In the following months these refugees understood the Empire wasn't the paradise they had thought. Its rulers were feeble, and corrupt. It was going through an economic crisis, and there was no wealth, or food for everyone, and that injustice, and the greed of the rulers would be much worse for them than the citizens.

Two years later, at Hadrianopolis the Goths defeated the Roman army, and killed Valens, the Emperor. Only 98 years later, their grandchildren were instrumental in dethroning Augustulos and finally ending what remained of the Empire.

All of that has already happened. We forget. Electing semi-literate politicians we would rather have a beer with than have making difficult decisions is part of the problem. Irresponsible leaders who keep the people in the dark as it is easier to lead sheep are also part of the problem.

Since the dawn of time there have been populations invading one another out of hunger, ambition, pressure from others who invaded them, and fear. Until recently they have all defended themselves the same way - killing invaders on battlefields, taking their women, enslaving their children. And they supported themselves this way until History ended them too, in the same way. Until they came across an invader they could not defeat.

Thankfully, Europe, the heir to the humanist and intellectual traditions, of Talmud, Bible, Dante, Cervantes, Newton, Shakespeare, and Voltaire has established a tradition of human rights and liberties, but this has come with an expiration date. Now it has only money. And money can only buy mercenaries for so long. It makes me wonder, if a new Hitler had risen today, would Europe unite in a response as violent and decisive as in 1939?

We pay for our sins. The disappearance of communist regimes has removed a counterpoint model to the capitalist democracy, idiotic wars in the Middle East which have mostly served to destabilise the region that was not ready for a government in the western model made the pot boil over. The centurions who watched our borders - mercenary as they are at the end of all empires - have also fallen. We want our armies to be NGOs. But without them, the borders are open to the thousands of the desperate that want in. It's a new story for us, but an old one for the world. The inevitable mechanic of history. The hordes are peaceful at first, but faced with discrimination, violence, terrible conditions, and injustice some will inevitable turn to violence. The usual response - to make policing harder, tougher - will only precipitate more violence, ghettoes which will be like dormant volcanoes waiting for the right spark to start their eruption.

This battle cannot be won. There are countless examples in history. We cannot. Our social, moral, political, and intellectual environment will not allow us. We have gone beyond massacring thousands on battlefields, thankfully our civilisation will not tolerate these types of atrocities. The problem is that we have overdone it. We have disarmed the people tasked with defending us, and any vigorous stand against the causes of these migrations is met with pacifist discourse that is as legitimate ideologically, as it is historically blind, with political debates centered around winning the next election where vigorous action is required.

Everything is an enormous contradiction. The citizen, in its moral decisions is better now than he was in centuries past. Certain injustices and cruelty will not be tolerated. This is for the good of humanity. But this will doom the Empire.

So we come to the root: Europe, lacks the capability, the will, the desire, and perhaps even the right to defend itself. We live in the absurd paradox of pitying the barbarians, even celebrating the victories, and at the same time expect to preserve our comfortable lifestyle. Things are not, and cannot be so simple. The Goths will continue arriving in waves, to cities, farms, roads, and borders. It is their right. And they have what Europe doesn't: the hunger, ambition, youth, and decision. Historically there are not many outcomes possible: if they are few, the new arrivals are integrated in the local culture, and it becomes richer as a result; if they are too many they transform it, or destroy it. Not in a day, of course. Empires take generations to fall, and no Pax Romana benefits all.

So what are the remedies? What can we do? In my opinion there are only a couple. First is to realise, as grown ups, that sometimes it is too late to change the consequences of our actions. The bus has rolled off the cliff. Perhaps it is the end of Europe as we know it. Of course much of the old will survive, as we know Homer, and Ovid, and cross roman bridges in Salamanca and Maastricht, so will future generations remember the achievements of the Europe of today. We won't be here to see it. We get off at the next stop.

There are only two possible attitudes in this scenario: One is the analgesic consolation of finding and understanding an explanation of the events. Not to avoid what is inevitable, but to understand that everythink is going to hell. To be the roman who smiles in his library as the barbarians burn the city. Understanding always helps with carrying the burden.

The other attitude is to educate people thinking of their children and grandchildren. To take a long view. To help them understand the world they will inherit, and arm them with the necessary skills to adapt to the inevitable, preserve what they can of the world that is disappearing, and to have the ability to influence the world to come. Give them the tools to survive in an environment that will be for a while, in flux - chaotic, violent, and dangerous. So they can fight for what they believe, or resign to the inevitable, but not for lack of ability, stupidity or indecision, but out of the understanding and lucid thought and intellectual serenity. Allow them to be what they want, or what they can. Whether Greeks, Trojans, or Romans, and allow them to face their world, and improve it without the luggage of past assumptions, and pretensions. Let's not fill them with cheap demagogy, and Walt Disney magic. They will need to survive.