Photo by hollandevans via Pixabay
I’m done trying to bargain for a shred of empathy when speaking to Germans on the topic of migration.
The reason I say “Germans” is for the simple fact that I live in Germany and therefore I spend the most time conversing with them in daily life.
I’m done with having every normal, daily conversations be ruined by hateful speech about anonymous migrants in the abstract; a broad brush painted over people whose lives we do not know.
You know how when you have that one friend, and every time you get together, all they do is complain about person X, until eventually you think to yourself, MY GOD, get a grip?? Yeah, you sound like that person.
I’m vetoing every conversation that goes anywhere near this topic. Why?
Because these conversations are often devoid of any factual evidence of what causes and “controls” migration (mostly the illegal variant is implied here). And because in these conversations, scapegoating and ire tend to steamroll basic human empathy. It’s tiring.
Migration is not a problem nor is it a solution. Migration is part of humanity. Migration is part of my personal family history; without it I would not exist. It might even be part of yours. Are you a “bad” migrant, or a “good” one?
I’m tired of people not thinking critically about the social issues affecting us, seeing the bigger picture, and instead opting to make other disadvantaged peoples their abstract enemies.
I’m tired of people lacking self-awareness in how our emotions have been instrumentalised by politicians, who hijack fear and anger.
I am done having this conversation, because it is often brought to the table unannounced, without anyone asking. Again and again, it’s a needlessly politicsied topic that creeps into our everyday lives, threatening to break us.
It just frustrates me. A lot. As a counter to this:
I recommend the work of Hein de Haas, a sociologist who has studied migration for over three decades and knows a lot more on this topic than you and I.
And in the mean time, I will fight for the issues I care about.
(Edit1: obviously migrants are not just doing “back-breaking labour” that Germans are less likely to do; we have labour shortages across the board that migrants help fill. See also: elderly care as well as our health system, STEM, hospitality, etc.)
(Edit 2: for tone 🙂 I was quite emotional when I wrote this entry the first time.)