Appealing to our demons, not our better angels

Why do I subscribe to Maclean's? Well, for $1.50/month on my Rogers cable bill they've finally hit a price level I'm comfortable with. And it's also because every issue there's always at least a few examples of great journalism. And this week's issue has at least two (haven't dived-in too deeply yet).

Coyne writes a great piece that brings both reason and compassion to the Tamil refugee issue:

...economic success is as much about character and determination as anything else—the kind of determination that would move a person to sit in a darkened hold eating spiders for four months, just for a chance to better their lot. If that’s queue-jumping, fine: these are the sort of people we want.

And Wells has another great piece on the mosque madness in the United States:

There are, by one count, 23 mosques in Manhattan. Four are south of Canal Street, in Lower Manhattan. According to the New York Times, the two closest to the site of the former World Trade Center have become snug fits for their worshippers in recent years as Manhattan’s Muslim community grows. People who want to pray are routinely turned away.

So if we were talking about, say, sporting-goods stores, the case for a new one would be pretty clear. Such things are not unheard of in the neighbourhood. There is a demand for more of them. So make some more.

You should read both pieces, but I wanted to draw-out, emphasize and expand on one passage in particular from Wells' column:

Deep fear that resists easy answers is, of course, catnip for politicians. People like to hear they’re right to worry. There will always be politicians willing to tell them that. But if any of them feel like showing a little responsibility, they should spare some thoughts about consequences.

This is exactly right, and it speaks to a much wider phenomenon then mosques or immigration. It's a worrying trend in America, in Europe, and yes, even in Canada.

We're all imperfect people. We always will be. We can say we're as enlightened or as tolerant as can be, but within us, on a sub-conscious level, we all have prejudices, we all have fears, we all have worries.

We all have demons, and we all have better angels. And they're constantly at war within us, whether we're conscious of it or not. And that can be exploited.

It's hard to appeal to our better angels. Particularly in difficult times, when the economy is choppy, when jobs are scarce, when we have trouble ourselves. It's easier to be compassionate when you're affluent.

It's far easier to appeal to our demons. To our baser instincts. And it can be politically advantageous too. It can win votes. It's far easier to scare than to inspire. To find an outlet for our anger, for our demons, somewhere to focus that anger and position yourself as the ones with the answers.

But it's dangerous, and it's destructive. Because hate begets hate, it fuels on itself, and once unleashed our demons tend to run free. It may start small. It always does. It may seem reasonable in isolation. It always does. But it doesn't stop there. It never does. And that road will take us to somewhere we won't like. But by the time we're there, it will be too late.

And as bad as those who shamelessly exploit our base instincts and appeal to our demons are, they're not the worst. They often don't know better, or believe the ends justify the means. No, worse are those who know that this is wrong, but they don't speak out.

They don't speak out because, as hard as appealing to our better angels is, countering an appeal to our demons can be as difficult. It's hard to counter emotion with fact, and fear with compassion. Too often, afraid of being labeled soft, afraid of being on the wrong side of a wedge issue, those who know better will do nothing. They'll stay on the sidelines, afraid to speak-up.

And it is this timidity, this weakness, that allows hate to flourish, and our demons to overwhelm our better angels. It can't happen without us.

Is what we're seeing passing flare-ups, or emerging trends? I don't know. You don't usually know until you're on the other side. But I'm worried. And I'm worried too that I don't see the battle being waged, and the challenge being met.

I hope our better angels haven't left us. They're still needed.

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Is the immigration insanity set to come north of the border?

It has been troubling for me to watch the news coverage and commentary around the arrival of a boatload of potential Tamil refugees in Canada this week, and it has left me wondering if I lived in the Canada I thought I lived in after all. Certainly, it seems that a re-examination of what has typically been seen as our values and attitudes is in order.

My concern isn’t necessarily about policy but more about tone, since the government doesn't seem to be doing anything substantive (yet) to back-up their ranting. I’m uneasy about boats arriving on our shores, I believe human smuggling is a heinous crime, and I don’t want terrorists released in our midst. But I also believe we should welcome legitimate refugees, no matter how they get here.

There are short-term and long-term issues here. Short-term, I believe we should process these people through the refugee process; those who meet the criteria (legitimate fear for their safety, persecution, etc.) can stay; those who do not should go. That is happening. The crew should be prosecuted for human smuggling, the ship seized, an investigation to find their sponsors launched, and those people pursued through international legal channels.

Longer-term, I think there needs to be policy changes, both domestic and international.

Complaints that many refugee claimants abuse the system by staying after being ruled ineligible, and that claims take too long to process, are legitimate. This isn’t an issue unique to these Tamils however; it’s a deeper issue with our immigration and refugee system that should be addressed by the government as part of its wider systemic reforms. And if we are being targeted by abusers for the laxness of our system, the answer is simple: fix the system so we're less attractive to those that would abuse it while still welcoming legitimate claimants.

Internationally, we need concrete efforts to deter and prosecute human smuggling. But we also need to look at other initiatives, and examine the root causes of such incidents. For example, working with the UN to improve the situation on the ground in places like Sri Lanka, and setting-up regional refugee processing centres overseas so that claims can be processed and legitimate refugees can come to Canada and other countries legally, without resorting to paying human smugglers for illegal passage.

There are very real issues that can be debated here, from policy reforms to more philosophical questions around what our refugee policy should be. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be having that debate. Instead, it seems as though the worst tactics of the U.S. Mexican immigration debate are coming to Canada.

We see Vic Toews and Stephen Harper stoking security fears and using the story to try to change the channel from issues that have been hurting them. We see Sun Media going all Rambo, seemingly implying we should sink the next boat that approaches our shores, or shoot them all or something, and warning you they’re stealing our tax dollars and our health care services. And in Toronto, we see mayoral candidate Rob Ford seemingly promising to wall-off Toronto to any further immigration (well, some immigration, to be sure). And he could actually win. And such attitudes and opinions aren’t exactly isolated.

It seems astounding though to be seeing this in a nation of immigrants. Wasn’t it not long ago that this government was apologizing for the Komagata Maru incident, when in 1914 a ship of Indian immigrants was prevented from docking in Canada over laws designed to prevent Asian emigration? Have we forgotten that our laws that prevent us from blocking ships of immigrants from landing were enacted following the shame of the Holocaust and World War Two, when Canada and many other countries barred our doors to Jewish refugees trying to flee the spread of Nazism?

I think we should reform our immigration system to increase capacity, process claims more quickly and ensure denied claimants are sent home quickly. And we should crack down on human smugglers, not human victims.

But let’s not lose sight of our history, our values, and that everyone here is from somewhere else.

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