I really enjoy social media. Outside of the blog-o-sphere, my favorites are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook in particular has helped me connect, re-connect, and stay in touch with people, old friends and new, from all over the world. It has been a boon for me in many, many ways.
Social media also has its downsides, of course. When abused, it can be a real time and creativity waster. Some say it contributes to the disintegration of "real" relationships: more Facebook equals less "face time". I've seen it work both ways. I've seen it build relationships, and I've seen it tear them apart. But, then, these things have been happening throughout the ages. Facebook is just another medium for human hearts. Whatever lurks there, also lurks in Facebook, for better or for worse.
For better, there are friendships - kind, respectful words of support, encouragement, love and hope. For worse, there is election season.
My friends have likely noticed that though I am quite interested in politics, I avoid political topics, both here and on Facebook. I have many reasons for that which I won't go into now, but I feel the need to warn you, I am about to tread right up to the edge of a political cliff. I ask you to stay with me. I assure you I have no intention of stepping over the edge.
Anyone who's spent any time on Facebook knows that a lot of people like to copy ideas they agree with and/or think are clever from their friends' walls and paste them to their own. Some people even create little "
memes" specifically hoping that others will pick up on them and that they will spread like viruses. This sort of activity seems to step up during an election season. For a number of reasons, I usually choose to overlook these memes, but when such an update manages to find its way not only
into my stream but my husband's as well, from entirely unrelated individuals, and manages to get under
both his skin
and mine sending us into fits of discussion, I find I don't want to let it pass unaddressed. So, here is the meme that we found so disturbing:
"Interesting...
If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 yrs. hard
labor. If you cross the Afghanistan border illegally, you get shot. Two
Americans just got eight years for crossing the Iranian border. If you
cross the U. S. border illegally you get a job, a drivers license, food
stamps, a place to live, health care, housing; child benefits,
education, a tax free business for 7 yrs...No wonder we are a
country in debt."
First let me state that I'm not going to attempt to validate or dispute the truthfulness of the claims being made here. I can only hope that anyone who reads it would research each of its assertions before even considering re-posting it. Secondly, I understand the intended point is that illegal immigration to America is the reason for our national debt. I will not state whether I agree or disagree with that notion in whole or in part. What I will say is that this meme is making the rounds and getting plenty of "Like" action. This means plenty of people I am acquainted with, have given their stamp of approval to what this paragraph says.
What concerns me about this meme isn't so much that people think our immigration system is broken and needs some work, or that they think it is contributing to our financial crisis. Many reasonable Americans from various political persuasions would agree. What troubles me, first, is the lack of careful thinking that permits people who are trying to make this point to resort to and/or fall for the dreadful logic and argumentation used to make it, and second, that professing Christians are going along with it.
This is America, a representative democracy founded upon a belief in basic human equality, rights, and freedoms. Everyone, so far as I can tell, who is re-posting this meme loves this country, and yet is inexplicably willing to set up North Korea (a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship), Afghanistan (a war-torn Islamic republic), and Iran (a theocratic Islamic republic), as positive examples of how we should be dealing with illegal immigrants. If I wasn't perfectly aware that this meme is meant to
oppose our current immigration policies, then I would think this would be a fine argument in favor of them. I mean who on earth aspires to be like these countries with their authoritarian regimes, their draconian policies, and their notorious abuses of human rights? These are places people flee to America
from, if they can manage to get away. These are not places people seek to emigrate to.
Truthfully, if it weren't for the last sentence of the meme, I think it reads like a statement of what a great nation America is for how well it treats those who come here looking for a better life.
Again, following the logic of the argument, it seems to imply that economies of these nations are something for America to aspire to. Perhaps that's true, if your goal is to have a nation so depressed economically that no one would have any reason to go there. (
Recessions do have the effect of curbing new illegal immigration to America, by the way, but I'm not sure that the trade-off is quite worth it.) However, I'm quite certain that is
not the intended meaning, and so the argument argues against itself. These are not countries known for their prosperity. If there is a direct relationship between a nation's treatment of illegal immigrants and its financial well-being, which is what this meme is attempting to claim, then if we are hoping to be prosperous, we should do the exact opposite of what North Korea*, Afghanistan, and Iran are doing.
When I read this meme I'm left wondering what exactly it is that those who post it are finding admirable about these countries. Since I know it can't be their dynamic economies, I'm left with only one thing: their harsh treatment of their fellowman. As a Christian, and as a citizen of a nation founded by immigrants and rooted in the belief of human equality, I find this distressing. Whatever my views on immigration policy, this is hardly the attitude I wish to have or convey to others.
Let me conclude by stating that I do not believe that the people I know who've re-posted this really want to see immigrating families, illegal or not, gunned down, brutalized, or imprisoned. I think they really are just stressed, frustrated, and hoping for some simple answers to a very complex problem. What I am saying is simply this: If you are a person hoping to fix immigration in America,
this kind argument does nothing but harm both your cause and your credibility. What I am asking is that you read the things you read
very carefully and critically, that you check your facts, that you see to it that your arguments make sense and that they are saying what you really think they are saying, that you think, think,
think before you post or re-post anything, and that you slow down and examine your heart when you find your emotions being manipulated into knee-jerk reactions by such flawed rhetoric.
*While we are on the subject of the economy of North Korea, I would like to provide a couple of really informative links. The first is an episode of the Planet Money podcast that was so fascinating that I listened to it twice, called "
North Korea's Illegal Economy". The second is a blog called
North Korean Economy Watch.
