IMMIGRATION THEN; IMMIGRATION NOW.

It has been my privilege to be a citizen of this country since 1968, when my army duty was completed. Prior to that I had two years as an immigrant under asylum and four years as a resident.

In all this time I have voted in every election and done so proudly and gratefully; this is a right earned, not given. As it is in every other country where free elections are held it is the right and, in several cases, the legal duty of every citizen to exercise this voting privilege. And also, in every one of these countries, in order to vote you must show an identification which proves you indeed have the right to do so.

Why did I come or was sent as a youngster to the US? My country of birth saw the coming of a government which promised the Heavenly Gates and delivered all of us straight to the doors of Hell. This happened mid-20^th century but was the beginning of the so-called “Socialism of the 21^st. Century”; a trend, directly fed and promoted by that first government, that has turned several Latin American countries and economies to rubble and dust, causing much pain, suffering and death to their citizens along the way.

As you might guess by the above, although registered as an independent, I will usually vote for the more conservative offering. Not of extreme right, mind you, but definitively right of center. I do this by choice based on painful life experience. Not only in my own country but also in several countries where I have had the privilege of living and working as an ex-pat. Those governments which tend to want to force the thinking of their citizens, or to limit their capacity to earn, or to keep and enjoy the fruit of their work, are usually governments which are not of and for the people. But for themselves. And these, as a norm, tend to be left wing socialist governments in developing countries. Extreme right governments tend to follow the same line, for reasons they present as different. But they are the same in the end. Personal power and enrichment. And the inability, or unwillingness, to accept anyone who thinks differently.

Why am I coming around to write about this? We live in an imperfectly perfect country. A country which has had open doors for many years and has welcome those who needed refuge. Over generations, most have come here using the established process in any one of its several variants. Yet, the last 10-15 years has seen a definitive shift in this pattern.  

Under the guise of open-door policies, we now see organized, large groups of people who come carrying signs that speak out against the very system they are supposedly hoping will get them out of their living misery. They are not using any established process; it’s been likened to having some strangers break into a home in the middle of the night and then force the rightful homeowner to clothe, shelter, feed and take care of them. I can’t, in any way, agree to this as being “acceptable”.

This is not easy to say because I say it as an immigrant. This country of ours is a constitutional country, based on laws and processes. Because of this, we have grown. It is not a perfect system; there is no such thing where human shortcomings are involved. But as systems go, and after having tried first hand several different ones, I know it works well; better than any other I have experienced. Especially for the individual citizen.

This is precisely what keeps attracting people from all over the world to come here. But a process must be followed; the concept of “open borders” has brought catastrophic results to several countries in Europe. Some are at the point of internal collapse; others have reversed their policies in order to survive. The cost of a major, unchecked influx of people who are unable or not willing to to adapt to the existing structure, can only be borne by increased internal spending and this can only be achieved by increasing taxes on those who produce an income. This segment of the population can only bear so much before exploding, or imploding. And with this, so goes the structure of the system, the core of the country and its society as we know it.

Do we have a system and a country worth fighting for? I am convinced we do. Does the system need some fixing? Yes, it does but this doesn’t mean destroying it. It means working within it to make it better and, at the same time, preserving it to bring the same benefits it has brought us, to our future generations.

The choice is up to every one of us. And in this analysis, ignoring the real issues should not be considered an acceptable alternative.

Be Well … Be Back!!!

Final Notes:

·       Pray for those who are fighting an illness which may take them away from their loved ones… Every request is heard, and counts!!

·       Visit www.englishnow.info

·       www.facebook.com/englishnowclasses   

·       Any comments please send to rjalcazar@gmail.com

FROM WALLY’S POND. YET AGAIN.

“For me, a very definite change of attitude is that I have come to understand that it is my duty to take care of my own needs before taking care of the needs of others, including those who may depend on me. This is a simple statement; but its profound meaning and ramifications have taken me a lifetime to grasp and accept.”

The above is an excerpt of a blog entry written some 8 years ago, while undergoing the healing process from my bout with cancer as well as from the first of two hip replacement surgeries. Why look at it again now? Two reasons: first, I am in the middle of a general review, trying to choose entries to include in a “compendium” which may (or not??) come out in printed form and, second, this entry was recently used as a reading exercise in one of my English classes. So, it was fresh in my mind.

The over-all consensus on reading and discussing the content was that yes, a person in order to give must have something to, well, give. Cannot offer much -positively, that is- when there is nothing but emptiness, frustration or anger inside.

My thoughts those years ago were most likely influenced by then recent events to include illness and personal issues which, at the time were unsolved and weighing heavily on my day to day life. Having said the preceding, I’ll add that there has been sometime spent during the last few days reliving those feelings as they were then, vs. what their evolved version may be today. Being now eight years later and hence, eight years older.

From a vantage point of those added years and with a much cooler and more stable viewpoint (I hope!!) as well as being (thankfully!!) in different health and financial circumstances today, I will still hold fast to those thoughts as expressed then.

I have met many whose primary and sometimes only goal in life, is to make money in order to have “things” with labels on them. To this group, approval from others is important. I have noticed that most of these folks (please understand, it is not my intent to place a tag of “good or bad” people) can only share money or “things”. And when money and/or material possessions are not present there is a tendency to feel out of place; of not being worthy.

I have also met many others who have much less money and, hence, much less in the way of “things”. Families who make enough to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table. Yet, have joy and love to share amongst themselves and with those around them. Their values are based not on the material things, but on an outlook which will help them go through the day and enjoy what they do have rather than suffer angst over what others may consider as a lack.

Is either path the better one? I really still do not have an answer which may be considered definitive. I don’t really believe anyone has that answer. We can only give what we have and think along the lines we have each learned to follow. There is a line from a song which in Spanish is called “El Pequeño Burgués”, and the line goes something like this:

“If your values are spiritual, you may get to reach The Almighty; If your values are centered around money, you may go as far as the nearest bank”.

In my own case, over the course of a lifetime there were moments I have had, and moments when I have lacked. I have also found that the values and strengths which helped me get through some of the most difficult moments of my life (to this point…) had nothing to do with money. And much to do with experience, faith, commitment and an unending desire to not give up. To get over whatever it was and to move forward. And with the people who meant much to me and who cared about me.

I can only speak for myself. How about you?

Be Well … Be Back!!!

Ponderin’ The New Year. Again

Every 1^st  week of January becomes a time to once again check those issues and items which have gone undone during the past year. Or the ones which were done when they actually shouldn’t have been done. And all those changes we sworn to undergo in order to be “more acceptable”.

The reality is that I, like many others, like to think that with the coming of the new year comes a time to usher in new thoughts, possibilities, directions and, in general, a new lifestyle. One perhaps more in keeping with those general guidelines acceptable to the world at large. Or, at least, to that world within which I strive to write my own life’s story. My own little world-at-large.

Then come the following days (after the first of the year, that is) and some of those oh-so-determined resolutions begin to weigh in with their respective demands of time, effort and even funds and I begin to see them for what they really are. An exercise at trying to alleviate an already overburdened conscience into believing that, this year, it really will happen. This is the year.

Yet, as time continues to march on, these determined resolutions become a little less defined and a little less insistent until, in the end… well, you know how this old story finishes.

What is real? As years pass, we become molded to a defined style and presence. That inner material, which once was somewhat more malleable, has hardened with the constant heat and turns of day-to-day living. Not unlike a clay oven, life ministrations shape us, hardening our exterior shell and inner core, giving us a glaze which we come to accept and wear with a certain pride. It’s our badge; we have earned this glaze and it is us. We don’t really want to change it.

For some, this is akin to falling into “conformity”. To look at oneself and to say: “I’m OK with what I see, with who or what I am”. Mind you, this doesn’t exclude striving to improve or attempting to change some things which, in changing, might improve the overall “product”. But never at the risk of becoming someone else, someone who is no longer the person I was before.

At that point my reaction is more like… “well, if you don’t really like what you see… Why do you insist and continue to look at it?”

I know… not very “PC” but then… neither am I.

Selfish? Not really. At this stage of the game (or at any stage in life) it is my belief that real selfishness is to want someone else to change his/her being in order to reflect that which I would prefer. To have this person lose who he/she is in order to become an extension of myself. So I can then be happy. The irony, when this is applied to couples is that by insisting on this change, the one party who wants the other to “evolve” so, may well be obliterating those very qualities which were attractive in that other person in the first place.

So, when all is said and done, I believe I’ll keep my own self the way it is. It’s taken many years to get it to this incredibly well finished stage… well, ok, acceptable stage. But it’s who I am as you are who you are. And we are both OK. 

Come to think of it, more than OK…

Cheers to that!!

Be Well … Be Back!!!

Final Notes:

·       Pray for those who are fighting an illness which may take them away from their loved ones… Every request is heard, and counts!!

·       Visit www.englishnow.info

·       www.facebook.com/englishnowclasses   

·       Any comments please send to rjalcazar@gmail.com