SWCAMBORNE

I saw last week that Nelson Mandela had been admitted to the hospital and in a separate news article that there was political and social unrest in South Africa.

I was reminded of what my brother Matt B, who does a lot of business throughout Africa, said about politics in South Africa last Autumn.  He thought that the only thing keeping South Africa from sinking into the chaos of Zimbabwe or Congo was loyalty to Nelson Mandela.  He expected that when Mandela died that South Africa would fall into the same sort of tribal violence that overtook Zimbabwe in the 1990′s and caused the whites who could to flee, the collapse of the economy and the total debasement of the currency.

There is a huge difference of scale however.  Zimbabwe has 13 million people and South Africa has 50 million.  About 10% of South Africa’s population is white and we can expect that, if what is predicted above happens, many of them will become international refuges.  Will the UK accept them?  How about Holland?  How about the USA?  Stay tuned.

There is already a diaspora happening from South Africa and a blog titled of course South African Diaspora.  But from the numbers I could gather there are less than a million white South Africans living in other countries.  Where will five million people go in a world that is increasingly xenophobic?  This will be a big test of the right to migrate.  Who will make room for them or will we allow a genocide?

“Poverty needs no

passport to travel.”

Oscar Arias

Former President of Costa Rica

Nobel Peace Prize

Winner 1986

Andrea Perusquia Artist

I wrote a story about the miners from Cornwall, England’s contribution to the cuisine of Mexico.  I know it sounds strange but Cornish Pastys are part of the food heritage of Moreles, Mexico.

I posted the story on my Rational Immigration site.  But I though I should share it here if only because it made me think about Elizabeth C and her empanadas.   And it raised the eternal question:  Which came first the Empanada or the Pasty?

English food suffer from a bad naming issue.  Which would you prefer egg pie or souffle?

Tijuana Jews from Isaac Artenstein on Vimeo.

Tijuana is not just a place that has crime and drugs and lawlessness. It also has a Jewish Community and peaceful people raising families and living marvelously ordinary lives.

On Monday October 31 Dr Oscar Arias visited the School of Trans Border Studies at ASU and I had the honor of giving him a tour of the Changing Boundaries Map Exhibit.  Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the fighting in Central America in the 1980′s while he was President of Costa Rica the first time.  Before the tour he gave a short talk about his attempt to get the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) passed by the US Senate.  During the talk he told a story about US politics that I am paraphrasing here:

” In the 1980’s Senators Ted Kennedy and George Mitchell and other Democrats supported my Central American Peace Plan but then in 2006 the same Democrats opposed CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement).

I was puzzled by this until I figured out that they weren’t trying to do the right thing.  They supported my peace plan because President Reagan a Republican opposed it and years later they opposed the trade agreement because President Bush another Republican supported it.  It was all about politics not about what was best for the US or for the world.”

A depressing story from someone who has seen politics from the inside.

You can read what he said about immigration here.

Dr Arias used his Nobel award money to start a peace foundation.

I posted my views on the new Obama administrations new immigration policy on Rational Immigration

Exerpt: “So the best deal that the Obama administration have offered Hispanics is: No Dream Act, no chance to work legally and if you have an interaction with the authorities you might still get deported.  This is from the supposed friend of the Hispanics.”

“The proper way to end illegal immigration is to re-legalize immigration.”

Mark Hinkle
Libertarian Party Chair
October 26, 2010

Simon’s Immigration Site

“The right to go where you want should be a principle in a decent world.”
Noam Chomsky

I’m still plugging away on Rational Immigration (formerly Radical Immigration for those of you with a memory) This week we are expanding from the Website that incorporates a blog to a group on Facebook that will work as the blog and then we will transition the web site into a more static site where the arguments in favor of a more Rational (get it) Immigration policy are made.

The new Logo

It is an uphill battle against the wind but I have no doubt that within the life of my children the right to migrate will be recognized as a human right.  The struggle first has to be won by helping people overcome their instinctive fear of strangers.  Hopefully I can contribute a little bit to that process.

You can help by going to Rational Immigration on Facebook and adding it to your favorites.

The link: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1067520248&ref=name#!/pages/Rational-Immigration/192327340800980

What more can I say.

Let them stay and contribute.

Opponents of the Dream Act are on the wrong side of history.