...I became a righty because my left hand got messed up real bad and so intuitively I started using my right hand, and to this day my left hand has always been second best.
In the same way, and for being a dual citizen, whenever I’m in the States I intuitively let my American nature dominate my personality, and whenever I’m in Colombia I intuitively let my Colombian nature dominate my personality... Sometimes I pull a fast one on people and I’ll conversely use my American personality when I’m in Colombia or I’ll use my Colombian personality while I’m in the States, but that’s just on rare occasions so that I can psych people out or receive some sort of extra benefit for adhering to either culture.
Besides being a contradiction of cultures though, I’m also a compilation of cultures, and fortunately as a part of this compilation, I likewise have a compilation of passports... (and I have two in fact) - one blue one and another one brown.
The blue one can get me into just about any country in the world except for Cuba and the brown one can keep me out of just about any country in the world except for Cuba ... (as well as Colombia of course).
...The brown one also got me into the Colombian military once, and if it weren't for the huge effort I made in talking to every higher ranking soldier I could find, I could have remained in the Colombian military for two whole years (they let me out temporarily until I cleared up my status in the capital city because I was in the wrong jurisdiction, I am short sighted, I was nice to them and bought them snacks and made phone calls for them, and I convinced them that starting churches was more important than fighting wars).
I’m really glad I didn't have to spend two whole years of my life in the military because I feel like sharing the gospel is more important than killing people (although in some cases I am in complete agreement that killing some people in some cases may be completely legitimate), but I’m really bummed out about the fact that a lot of times Colombians have been known for killing some people in some cases illegitimately. Either way, there are estigma’s or generalizations that I have had to deal with my whole life whether I be in the States or whether I be in Colombia, and while at times it has had its advantages, at other times it can kind of become a drag... For instance, Colombians are often looked down upon as guerrillas and drug dealers, and Americans are at times looked... (I don’t know whether up or down - but regardless they are looked upon) as both materialists and movie stars.
Believe it or not, Colombians are a lot more welcoming to Americans in their country than Americans are to Colombians, and that’s probably because movie stars and materialists generally aren't considered that bad, while guerrillas and drug dealers definitely are considered pretty dog gone bad, but it’s just so ridiculous to categorize a whole nation for something that just about 1% of the country is involved in just because those are the people that attract the most attention (Oook so maybe there’s a whole lot more than 1% of Americans that are materialists, but I’m pretty sure that there’s a whole lot less than 1% of Americans that are movie stars just like there’s a whole lot less than 1% of Colombians that are guerrillas or drug dealers).
Either way, within the United States, Colombians can at times be looked down upon for either being violent or illegal people, and though I have usually always bypassed this type of negative racial profiling for looking straight up American, it bugs me that most all my Colombian and Mexican brothers, or anyone else that even looks partially Hispanic, can at times be considered straight up violent or illegal just because of the color of their skin.
 |
| This guy actually was both extremely illegal and violent and his name is Pablo Escobar, and I think that it was totally appropriate that he was put to death. |
...Because take for instance the example of construction:
Just about every roofing crew I've ever seen in the United States is all Hispanic, and countless framing crews, foundation crews, and dry wall crews are frequently also all Hispanic as well....And It’s the same in farming, or in factory jobs, or in house cleaning companies too... just about everyone in these industries are Latin probably because they do really good work at really good rates and most North Americans wouldn't even want to do these types of jobs themselves. And if they had to, they would only want to do them if they were getting paid a whole lot of money to do so... a whole lot of money that in this nation’s present economy is simply not available.
...And that’s the main factor in most people’s minds.
Whether it be legal or illegal to hire undocumented Hispanics to do certain types of jobs is one thing, but whether it be beneficial to do so is quite another, and I would personally say that with reference to the latter question, and in just about all cases and for just about all parties involved, it indeed is very much beneficial for everyone, and doing away with all the undocumented immigrants in this nation by deporting them back to their own countries would be a huge problem for this nation’s economy.
For one, a lot of big factories would have to close up shop and move to other nations where they would start up physical plants there where they would be able to pay their workers less and therefore produce cheaper products which in turn would be more competitive in the global market, and if these countries did that, which countries do you think would be the ones to benefit the most for this migration of work?
...Well the countries that the work migrated to would, not the countries where the work migrated from.
Why? Well think about the States and Mexico for instance... Say a huge chicken plant such as Simmons Chicken (which by the way I worked at once for three days and I was one of only two white employees in the whole plant while more than a hundred of all the other workers were all Hispanic) ... say this chicken plant got busted for having hired undocumented workers and therefore the vast majority of all the employees there got deported back to say Mexico... what do you think would happen to the chicken plant?Well, what would happen is that the chicken plant would want to hire regular North Americans, but at the going rate for which this company was paying its workers in the first place (which I remember was as low as about $7.25 when I worked there), barely no regular North American would want to even be hired under these types of conditions (which were pretty miserable both in terms of the type of work we were doing as well as the type of money we were getting for doing it), and so because of that, this chicken plant would then do one of two things.
One, they would raise the salary for each worker which in turn would mean less profit for them (because if they started raising their prices to match the additional expenses not as many people would want to buy their chickens), or two, they could just move the whole location of their physical plant to Mexico where not only could they hire workers for a rate far lower than $7.25, but they could also cut corners on a lot of other safety standards and sanitary standards which in turn would create a lower quality product and a lower standard of living even for the Mexicans that would start working for a company such as this one in their home nation after they got deported back there.
But what about the losers? ...Well the losers in this case would be one: The American government who would now have to pay to get the undocumented workers back into their home countries while simultaneously having less tax money from the chicken plant to do so; two: the American owners of the company who would now have to go through the hassle of changing the location of their physical plant; three: the undocumented workers who would now be back in their home country earning lower wages; four: the American people who would now get a lower quality product even if the price remained the same; and five: the chickens themselves who would now be getting killed in a more unsanitary environment...But for me personally in my chicken plant career, I only lasted for three days because I got the job through a temp agency and right after I got it, I found a better job open up in a far less stressful environment and for a far better rate (which still wasn't that good at all because I was only getting paid like $9.50), but regardless, that was still a whole lot better than $7.25, and even though I enjoyed being around my Hispanic brothers... in jobs like that (and just as how America the Beautiful has taught me).. it’s all about the money baby!
...But anyways, I said at the beginning of this entry that Colombians are sometimes generalized as either guerrillas and drug dealers while Americans are sometimes generalized as either materialists or movie stars... and while I’m absolutely sure that I've never been a guerrilla or a drug dealer in my life, I’m not so sure that I've never been a materialist or a movie star...
In fact, whenever I’m walking along the street or paying for something at a counter, there have been a few times when people have told me that I look like Kramer...
Now, that's kind of weird, but what’s funny about that is that the Seinfeld show (from which Kramer comes from), is actually a show that is all about everything I just talked about...
Seinfeld was the first show in North America that was about absolutely nothing in which people were heralded for doing absolutely nothing, and in many respects this show has become iconic for contributing absolutely nothing to American culture ever since. America used to be known for its hard work and for its “raising itself up from the straps of its boots”, but in recent history America has rather become known for getting as much money as possible by doing as little work as possible... and so if everyone wants to stay true to this new type of the “American way” then deporting all the undocumented immigrants back to their home countries is not the way of going about that...
And whether I’m a part of this “American Way” or not, I don’t know, and if I really do in fact look like Kramer, I don’t know either, but one thing I do know for sure, is that I ain't no chicken! man; and neither do I want to work in no chicken plant either.
But is that the right attitude to have? Well, personally I’m not a real big fan of nationalists and I really don’t want to be categorized as someone that is ethnocentric either (although being patriotic at times I consider very appropriate), but yeah, I mean for me as a Christian - I don’t want to be someone that’s always dodging the law (unless of course that law went against my conscience), and so I’m definitely more than ok with paying taxes, and I’m definitely more than ok with following rules too, but one thing I do want to do for example is help change laws that in some way can benefit either me, or other people that I identify with as well, or with this nation as a whole.
One such rule is the Sanctuary City Bill and in essence what it does is provide certain cities of refuge for people who appear to be undocumented immigrants so that they can live and work without constantly having to look over their shoulders to see if cops are going to come and bust them exclusively on the grounds that “they look like they could be illegal”... in other words, racial profiling against anybody that has brown skin.
Is it the same for the Hispanics here?
What’s ironic is that the majority of what all the Hispanics are doing in the States is helping the economy, and yet there are some people that don't understand that, or they have a thing against their color or language or something, and so they want to kick them out.
In the history of Mexico it could be said that the United States stole a whole bunch of their land back in the days of Sam Houston and Davy Crockett and Santana, and yet in this day and age Mexico is generally very welcoming to Americans and hospitable to them as well, even though that kindness is not always reciprocated.
...But yeah. Anyways, I mean even though I feel really strongly about all these things - the real issue I believe, goes far beyond nationalities or colors or borders or languages or economics or any of that.
There's a really alarming song by Switchfoot called "Politicians" and the chorus says, "I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians, watching for my sky to get torn apart," and what I think Jon Foreman is referring to here has to do with the city of God that will be fully established when the sky is torn apart and Jesus comes down on the clouds of heaven in glory (Matt. 24:30). He will reign over a city with no borders between nationalities, that will have no politicians swayed by different political agendas, but rather everything will be governed perfectly by Father God in his ultimate Theocracy.
...And what's remarkable is the second part of the chorus where Jon confesses, "I am broken I am bitter, I'm the problem, I'm the politician..." Because it's like he's admitting that he's just as much a part of this broken and bleeding world as anyone else, and that he's no better than any politician who may be living primarily for him or herself in the system that he or she governs. I mean that's really the whole point of a capitalist democracy isn't it? That it works so well because everyone is so selfish, and if you create a system that rewards people who work really hard for themselves, then it will probably succeed because that's what we as humans are most inclined to do. It's what we are equally inclined to do all across the board, and it is only by the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are enabled to live for His glory and for the good of our neighbor... (which I know that I don't always do, but which I desire to do so more and more).
God is the only one that can empower us to live for others, and his kingdom is the primary one worth truly pledging allegiance to.
Revelation five tells us that one day there will be a group of humans from every tribe, tongue, and nation all gathered together as one kingdom to reign on the earth and serve our God (v. 9-10).
Amen! Come Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).
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"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
Leviticus 19:33-34
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Pictures Cited:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1811660,00.html
http://www.armyrecognition.com/defense_army_military_world_worldwide_news_2010/january_2010_worldwide_world_news_army_military_defence_industries_industry_exhibition_equipment_uk.html
http://www.hark.com/clips/fvcxkcvdkb-my-boys-need-a-house
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/11/pablo-escobar-movie-300-relativity-ashworth-stone.html
http://workingintheshadows.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/a-glimpse-inside-a-chicken-plant/
http://www.midcoast.com/~martucci/flags/us-hist1.html
http://www.thecampuscompanion.com/2012/01/19/top-reasons-study-mexican-edition/mexican-flag/
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