Image by John Hain from Pixabay
First, think back to who invaded and conquered and then immigrated to America. The British.
Centuries before, Britain was conquered by the Romans in 55BC. In between times, the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings, and then William the Conqueror's Normans in 1066.
It is clear we must all face up to the animosity created by blaming immigrants for our own problems.
Also, the destruction we have caused with our demand for products and food. Bear with me, the two are linked.
To restore harmony and balance we must all accept our fellow humans to help every one of us survive.
A project introduced twenty-five years ago restored a vital ecosystem. If we stop blaming immigrants now and focus on the real-world problems we might just have a chance of survival for our descendants.
Restoring ecosystems is possible. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone in 1995 happened back when there was only one beaver colony.
After the wolves were killed off in the 1930's the elk survival rate increased to the point where they were staying in once place, eating willow, aspen and cottonwood during the winter months.
Beavers needed the willows to survive so died out.
Following the reintroduction of the wolves, the elk were forced to keep moving around. This allowed the willows to grow strong and enabled the beaver population to thrive.
In June 2020, there were nine beaver colonies.
As a result of more beavers, more dams were built. The dams and ponds caused better water flow management through the seasons, creating cold water areas for fish and shade from willow trees that are home to songbirds.
By hunting and killing the elk, the wolves are actually providing food for all sorts of birdlife and grizzly bears when they come out of hibernation.
The Yellowstone wolves are only one example of ecosystem restoration, there are many other projects.
It's not just ecosystems that need restoring. After the Second World War Britain needed help rebuilding war-torn cities.
Immigrants
Some people might not recognise themselves as the original immigrants. In the modern world, immigrants are humans that help other humans.
The UK has relied on wonderful humans from all over the world to come and join our society.
As far back as 1948, the UK invited people from Commonwealth countries to help rebuild the country after WW2.
Named after the ship they arrived on from Jamaica, most of the Windrush generation stayed and settled permanently.
The British were some of the first immigrants to arrive on the shores of America twenty-two years after the Spanish in 1565.
Considering the lands were used by Native Americans at the time you could call the Spanish and British the first people to migrate to America. They didn't settle down peacefully though. Instead, they conquered the natives.
In 1770 Lieutenant James Cook, on behalf of the British Crown, claimed the East coast of Australia. Eighteen years later Captain Arthur Phillips, arrived with 1,500 convicts, soldiers, and civilians.
Over a period of ten years, these immigrants managed to kill 90 per cent of the native Aborigines through diseases introduced to their communities, being dispossessed of their land, and from direct conflict.
As you might realise, there is little justification for anyone to resent immigrants in our countries.
The British (some later became American) and the Spanish basically stole land from the original inhabitants of multiple countries.
Over the centuries famously, Italians, Greeks, Polish and many more Europeans arrived in America. The United States is made up of immigrants. The UK also consists of immigrants.
How has just over half the population of two countries of white British and American citizens become so hostile towards immigrants when many of them are, in fact, descendant from migrants or conquerors themselves?
Brexit, Trump, along with police racism and brutality have fanned the flames of right-wing extremists insisting on Britain is for the British.
Trump crowdfunding his wall to keep out those he considered undesirable Mexican illegal aliens has only served undesirable Americans. Who will he hire to clean his resort?
All I'm saying is we all need to put ourselves in the shoes of the people we are blaming for the problems in our country and look a little closer to home.
I can guarantee it is not the migrants that are stealing our jobs but the richest people in the land who refuse to pay a living wage to their employees. Poverty has been increasing for the last ten years.
Let's hope President Joe Biden wins over the senate and gets the $15 minimum wage bill passed. Let's hope he is successful in restoring divided communities and protecting everyone from the ravages the pandemic has brought.
Motivated by @GaryLineker’s shared tweet everyone in the UK (and the US) needs to accept the amazing immigrants who have been slaving away tirelessly to keep us alive, from cleaners to consultants and fresh fruit and veg pickers in the fields to shopkeepers.
When we have survived the pandemic and we are eating out in our favourite restaurant, consider those immigrants serving us our avocado toast brunch or steak and chips.
We are all human beings, from the lowest-paid to the richest, we need each other to survive. There are no acceptable reasons why we should think otherwise.
We now have a prime opportunity to put the world to rights.
Stop stripping the world of vital, to our ability to breathe, elements such as trees, which landowners chop down or politicians allow to burn to clear the land of forests to meet our demand for more cows and turkeys, coffee and cacao, and palm oil.
These activities line the pockets of that (in)famous 1%.
Let’s think before consuming junk or fast food or products. Do I really need to eat that Big Mac, buy that designer whatever, or drive my SUV to work five days a week?
Governments should be creating policies that put the planet first, this would then work in tandem with people working the land, creating and producing on smaller scales for their communities and possibly those nearby.
Working in harmony with, rather than against the environment, will help people.
Businesses, small, medium or large, should operate not for shareholders’ dividends or profits but for the survival of the planet and its inhabitants.
The future.
The wolves of Yellowstone have shown us the benefits of restoring ecosystems. Every living creature has its part to play in the grand scheme of life.
Can you see the benefits of consuming less to save the remaining forests, to making the world a better place for everyone to live in?
Will you embrace all humans regardless of skin colour or ethnicity?
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