Better still they shouldn't be allowed in in the first place.

Neither you nor SB seem capable of viewing the world holistically. I often wonder about these lines that are drawn by folks such as yourself. I can't help but feel that the myopic stance you and he take toward immigrants suggests an absence of the ability to think ethically. But of course we could go on for days about what constitutes ethical behavior - or ethical thought for that matter. And I imagine that in the end we would still not agree - not just on the issues at hand but also the broader spectrum of what it really means to exhibit ethical behavior.

The common belief is that the more educated one becomes the more ethical they will become. Of course we can cite multiple examples of how that isn't true; nevertheless, at least from my own observations, said common belief seems to hold up pretty well, but only represents one path that can lead to all the qualities that we generally associate with ethical behavior.

So, when people such as yourself and others, who seem so often to be such hateful bastards, can't express any regard for the well being of others simply because they don't fit your mold, I can't help but be, hmm, shall we say, concerned.

I've worked closely with immigrants. I know their stories. I feel their stories. I've seen the horrors of Pol Pot's Cambodia through the eyes of Cambodian monks who were my students. I've seen the terror of El Salvador in the haunted eyes of others. I saw more than I actually wanted to see. In a way, it's why I accepted a job in China; I was reaching a point where I was overloading on empathy that was approaching burnout. I was glad to be going somewhere where change was rampant and newness could replace what I was feeling.

Get the idea? I will never, ever respect those like you who cannot embrace the bigger picture and by doing
so somehow embrace humanity as a whole. I suppose it's just too much focus on the differences rather than the likenesses, or maybe some gorilla like mentality relative to territory and dominance. Whatever it is, it's amazing it exists in such large numbers, or maybe it is that hate-mongering is just getting more press these days.

Meanwhile, the world is weaponizing and it's trickling down to the common man. Gun stores have long lines. Hate and focusing on differences breeds fear and creates walls both physical and mental. Will kindness and compassion be confined to whispers in the shadows?

“The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet….Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places….We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

– J.K. Rowling, author, philanthropist, and founder of the children’s charity, Lumos