politics of the day

My time in USA has been an interesting one, and i have had a few heated debates with various people along the way. Top of the list has been George Bush, followed closely by immigration issues and thirdly, the right to bear arms. I have been labelled a liberal by many of the people we have met, due to my anti-war stance and seemingly outrageous view that i think dropping bombs is a bad thing!!

I live in Belize in Central America and am seeing the opposite side of the immigration problem that is facing america. We have a lot of poorer people living around us and many if not most seek the riches and wealth of a life in the states. Of course they have no idea that once you arrive there you have to work hard, have a decent education and in some intstances have a few lucky breaks along the way to create the American Dream. I have seen 5 men leave their homes and families in the last 5 months, snaking the way up from Belize, through mexico, being apprehended by mexican gangs, who demand money for their release. They reach the Mexican/USA border and play the ping pong game as they bounce backwards and forwards from Mexico to USA being arrested/released and harrassed along the way until finally they reach Nirvana. Of course once they arrive in the USA, reality soon hits home and they start to understand that the american way for most people is not as they have seen in the Movies or in magazines. And all of the men that i know made it. It seems that there is a 100% success rate for Mexicans, Belizeans, Guatemalans etc, with no passport, no papers and no money to make it into the USA. So long as they have enough patience.

And for the Americans that i have met, the frustration at seeing this influx of foreigners is too much to take and their tax dollars are increasingly being spent supporting "illegal aliens", a very unflattering term to describe people seeking a better life. My parents also complain about a similar problem in England as do people in most western societies who all have a great life compared to the people in the poorer countries of the world.

And it seems that the USA is split right down the middle with regards to supporting their war in Iraq as does the public in England. Ask someone for their opinion and most people will have a strong view one way or another. Me - well i never thought it was a good idea, and cannot believe that the politicians who approved this invasion have still been able to blinker the masses into thinking they were doing the honourable thing. I still havnt heard of a weapon of mass destruction being found and i'm sure most people will be aware of the escalating violence in the country.

As for catching terrorists. Well my analogy is this :: invade a country under whatever made-up premise you might have, ideaology, oil, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism or whatever excuse you feel like giving and kill whoever it is you wish to remove. Job done! However kill innocent people due to unfortunate "collateral damage" and what do you get. Mothers, without husbands, sons and daughters or Children withour parents or Fathers without families. These people now become your new terrorists. Filled with hate and anger for what has happened to their families. And where is that hate directed. At the perpetrators of these attacks. And so the cycle begins again. Here we are in 2005, learning nothing from our past and blindly creating chaos and hatred for the future. What a crazy world we live in.