Compassion, prosperity and the immigrant
In the 1300s, famine struck most of Europe. Cities turned out their poor. People hoarded their food and let others starve. One city that stood out from the rest was Florence. Florence took in those that other cities expelled – the poor, the hungry, the jobless. The city regulated grain prices and made sure that everyone had something to eat. The government even went into to debt to buy grain to feed its population and that of the refugees who came to Florence.
Florence’s policies for feeding the people within its borders led to a rise in population and a thriving community. While Florence was in no way idyllic for the poor, it was at least willing to feed then for the duration of the famine. In the 1400s, Florence became the center of the Renaissance. This rise in intellectualism and humanism cannot be directly related to Florence’s famine policies, but it is certain that those famine policies put people first providing an example that could influence those who came later.
In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in the United States. The plaque under the statue reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me…”
The United States built its prosperity on immigrants over the course of 200 years. Each new wave of immigrants has been treated with suspicion, hatred, distrust and accusations of taking jobs and living off the welfare system. However, with each new infusion of culture and people, the U.S. has prospered in spite of the way that the new Americans have been treated by the population at large.
These two examples of how immigrants have actually contributed to a region’s prosperity have been largely ignored by the xenophobic, right wing conservatives who want people to go back where they came from and who believe that there is only so much of a pie. The fact of the matter is that immigrants take the jobs that the more established population does not want. Many of them work happily at jobs that would make most of us cringe, and their level of poverty requires that they increase the local economy through the fact that they have to purchase the necessities, like food and transportation.
Yet, even these arguments should be subordinate to the one thing that we, in the Western world seem to have lost, compassion. We are all human beings, regardless of our classification. That alone should be argument enough for taking in those who need help, for feeding the hungry and for helping the impoverished. Rather than letting our sense of fear and entitlement rule our decisions, we should look at those around us with love and see that they get what they need.
In a world where the individual is only concerned with the individual, people will fall and have no one to help them up. In a world where people are concerned with the welfare of others and they work to make sure that everyone, not only has a chance to succeed but also has a chance to self-actualize, everyone will have enough. Rather than complaining that someone is getting something and that no one is giving the same thing to us, we should look to make sure that everyone has his or her basic needs fulfilled. Once that is accomplished, we will see a new rise in our country’s power and in the world’s sense of security.
Florence’s policies for feeding the people within its borders led to a rise in population and a thriving community. While Florence was in no way idyllic for the poor, it was at least willing to feed then for the duration of the famine. In the 1400s, Florence became the center of the Renaissance. This rise in intellectualism and humanism cannot be directly related to Florence’s famine policies, but it is certain that those famine policies put people first providing an example that could influence those who came later.
In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in the United States. The plaque under the statue reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me…”
The United States built its prosperity on immigrants over the course of 200 years. Each new wave of immigrants has been treated with suspicion, hatred, distrust and accusations of taking jobs and living off the welfare system. However, with each new infusion of culture and people, the U.S. has prospered in spite of the way that the new Americans have been treated by the population at large.
These two examples of how immigrants have actually contributed to a region’s prosperity have been largely ignored by the xenophobic, right wing conservatives who want people to go back where they came from and who believe that there is only so much of a pie. The fact of the matter is that immigrants take the jobs that the more established population does not want. Many of them work happily at jobs that would make most of us cringe, and their level of poverty requires that they increase the local economy through the fact that they have to purchase the necessities, like food and transportation.
Yet, even these arguments should be subordinate to the one thing that we, in the Western world seem to have lost, compassion. We are all human beings, regardless of our classification. That alone should be argument enough for taking in those who need help, for feeding the hungry and for helping the impoverished. Rather than letting our sense of fear and entitlement rule our decisions, we should look at those around us with love and see that they get what they need.
In a world where the individual is only concerned with the individual, people will fall and have no one to help them up. In a world where people are concerned with the welfare of others and they work to make sure that everyone, not only has a chance to succeed but also has a chance to self-actualize, everyone will have enough. Rather than complaining that someone is getting something and that no one is giving the same thing to us, we should look to make sure that everyone has his or her basic needs fulfilled. Once that is accomplished, we will see a new rise in our country’s power and in the world’s sense of security.