Aliens - of the Close Kind

Another forwarded article has drifted my way, as forwards often do because of well-intentioned efforts of thoughtful folks in my circle of contacts.  This one dealt rather harshly with the ever-present Illegal Aliens among us.  Unfortunately, not space aliens.  (Surprisingly, none of my friends can claim to have direct contact with these as yet!)  If I understood the message properly, the particular aliens in question in this case were the Hispanic border-crossing hordes(!).

Often do I ponder the wonders of dumb luck.  Of pure chance.  WE [humans] have nothing whatsoever to say about where WE are born.  And WE who happened to be born in the USA are so pleased to fly OUR flag and snuggle up to the concept of WE - the People.  The people of a particular country.  WE who are fortunate to be born on a piece of our planet that might lie just across a river, or across an invisible line called a border, from folks born in another, perhaps poorer, division of the planet, somehow can become attached to OUR little plot and feel a ferocious possessiveness about it.  Hardly ever is there a big thing made of being part of the WE of North America.  Or the WE of the whole Western Hemisphere.  More likely the fiercest of OUR personal loyalties are broken down to individual states due to "friendly" competitions such as in college and professional sports.  Texans who have never played a sport can be heard to say that WE have a better team than THEY do - the THEY being maybe Oklahoma or Arkansas.  And those in Kansas might say "WE are better than Nebraska."  The same kind of exclusivism is big in politics, commerce and other institutions within our society.

Of course WE (as individuals) are at times entirely put out by other members of the WE who don't see things the way WE do.  I am taken aback often by the way in which I am expected to be a loyal part of a WE group in which I am a total misfit. 

As an agent for real estate sales, I am actually expected at times by a few members of MY small community to be true to OUR type and do my best to avoid selling property to THEM.  And it's not always clear which part of the THEM is most undesirable to US, but I am supposed to understand and help keep some kind of purity in OUR neighborhood.  Keeping US protected from those of another race, I believe is what's being hinted at by MY fellow lily-white Anglos.  Some have the gall to assume that I would surely want only folks just like themselves to become MY new neighbors.  Truth be told, many of the people I find myself having to deal with simply because of our proximity, I would gladly replace with nicer people.  Maybe that's the kind of red-lining I could unethically practice - refusing to sell property to anyone who isn't nice!

Typically I detest being thought of as one of US.  Especially to join against THEM.

Remember the scene in The Sound of Music film when the infatuated eldest daughter confronted the good guy she had seen at least once (and shared a spirited duet of Sixteen Going on Seventeen), in the courtyard of the church?  He was hunting down her escaping family because he was now part of the Hitler Youth, working his way into the Nazi military.  She thought she was appealing to his good guy inner core by saying "You'll never be one of THEM."  And he blew the whistle.  He so wanted to be one of THEM.  And we know from history, Hitler so wanted the likes of him and other blond, blue-eyed Aryans who could help him establish the master race and rid the world of all the OTHERS - those who simply weren't pure enough to live among the master race.

Are WE, the accidental citizens of the USA, part of a master race?  Oh, wait, WE are already made up of many races, thanks to all the aliens who arrived here over generations, so what kind of master-GROUP are we now considering ourselves?  And are WE too good to have to endure aliens?

The forwarded message I mentioned at the beginning was pointing out all the waste of OUR dollars in caring for the hordes of illegals crossing OUR borders.  The question being asked was, why should WE have to feel responsible to spend OUR hard-earned money helping THEM?  It was an exemplary effort made to study the amounts of money spent on health care for THEM and in losses of jobs that WE could have had if THEY weren't allowed to stay in OUR country.  Then the article brought up the concern that a bunch of stinking Liberals will try to take the heat off those budget-draining aliens by saying that it's the stupid wars in which we are embroiled that should be ended so money could be saved in that way.  The point being made by the writer, it seems, is that the wars are fine; if WE could just quit spending so much on THEM, the illegal aliens who dare to sneak into OUR country, then WE could go on spending money where it needs to be spent - killing enemies.

The writer's fairly transparent attitude was that instead of spending OUR money on aliens, it might be better to stand them up in rows and mow them down with bullets. 

First of all, even if his huge figures (spent on aid) were factual, they are still a pittance when compared to what has been spent in the wars we have [mis]managed over the last decade.  But here's the rub to a devout Humanist and progressive idealist such as I:  ANY amount spent on war is TOO MUCH.  Any amount spent to assist human beings, inside or outside any border, is money well spent.  When considering the two choices of helping people on the one hand and killing people on the other, I choose to be on the side of helping humans live.