Home > Reflections > On Imaginary Lines > On Going Down the Gutter...

On Going Down the Gutter...

“The middle east has been populated for 125,000 years or more and it is still a superstitious, barbaric, and violent place, and no one wants to import any of it to the U.S. And that is why your demand for open borders is dead-on-arrival. Please don't drag us down to the gutter.”
        People are afraid. I understand...
        They believe visas are there to protect them from the bad. They say “a country would be irresponsible to open its borders to just anyone who shows-up and expects to be given free access. Criminals. Foreign agents. ISIS. Taliban. To a border control agent these people appear just like any other. So a Visa process is implemented in an attempt to control access to the country.”
        First of all... As The Economist article claims and as I have given examples, most Visa requirements are there only to hassle people, without providing any protection.
        Second of all... Quoting from Fetigue, another commenter on The Economist: “The networks selling drugs, weapons, humans, as well as the terrorists do not apply for visas. They have their own methods to get around those procedures. And when they do apply, they make damn sure they have all the required documents. And so far visas have not stopped them. And probably never will. They have people on the inside, on the outside and everywhere around those concepts of inside and outside.”
        Third of all... As another commenter asked: "What's the stats of American citizens killed by crazy and deluded jihadists vs American citizens being killed by other American citizens with guns? And what are you doing about the latter problem?"
        There was no reply to the first two items, there was no reply to the third one either but I forced the person into answering. He said “That question suggests the issue of terrorists entering the U.S. with the goal of killing Americans is not very important because they kill fewer Americans than American criminals. This is of course a silly and foolish notion, especially to the families of the murdered victims."
        I'm sorry to say that that conclusion is wrong. That question does NOT suggest "the issue of terrorists entering the U.S. with the goal of killing Americans is not very important because they kill fewer Americans than American criminals." It's just an example to show that it's not about nationality but about personality. It may even be implying that there might be something called fate. And that you may be the target and victim of something randomly. Or, the most it suggests is that there are more important issues that Americans should be prioritizing. To me, everything done after this point is probably silly and foolish for the families of the murdered victims. Nothing is going to bring their loved ones back.
        The topic here is about visas. And the damage it does... Do you know who Aylan is? (Or Alan as they say his real name was.) Check the internet for Aylan Kurdi and you will see. Or have a look at #HumanityWashedAshore. But please don't restrict yourself to only one boy and one photo. Dare to look at the dead childrens' bodies at the DailyBeast.
        These are lives. Women have given birth to these bodies – these bodies that are thrown into the gutter,- going through so much pain. God knows all that they have lived to give birth and raise these children. These people die just because they were born somewhere and cannot buy a ticket, jump on a plane and go somewhere else. I'm not comparing any lost lives. I'm just pinpointing the disparity. This is not seen as an attack on innocent lives, but it in reality is.

Apart from the terrorism part, people are afraid that if borders were to be opened, a huge wave of immigrants would come and carry them down the gutter. Safe that immigrants normally take jobs that locals do not want to... I was in the US recently and read the news almost daily. The New York Times said that there were 350-360 mass shootings in America last year. Almost one every day! Looking at all the news, I wondered to myself "How can America be the biggest power in the world with such problems?" The way I see it, America is already down in the gutter. Apart from the mass killings, they have the obesity problem, they have the homeless, they have teenage pregnancies, they have drop-outs, they have the drug problem, as far as I know their health system is a big mess, the same goes for their justice system. There are troubles everywhere in the world, so much ignorance, hate, injustice, name it as you will. But nowhere are these things so pronounced and other countries do not claim to be the biggest power with people dreaming to live there... We probably suck at justice both in Italy and in Turkey too but the cases in America are mind-blowing! The extremes companies go to just not to be sued for liability etc. What's more, America has exported many of its problems outside its borders like obesity and has caused many of the world problems, wrecking countries by its interventions.
        Don't worry, I won't be dragging anybody down the gutter (even if you think that's what's going to happen if people can move freely in the world they were born.) I'm not such an influential person (at least not yet. But I hope to be one day...) to change such things. I have done three round-the-world tours. The last one recently, with my Italian husband whom I met in my second rtw and our 3.5 year-old daughter. There was not a single line in the Turkish media about me! I am news... I am headline news for at least the Turkish media, at least for the travel magazines and newspapers. But no. They just ignored me. The only reason I can find is that they are scared of my ideas. I was thinking I would be giving interviews to many newspapers, going on TV... Nopes. Nothing. No one interested. They are promoting people who cannot be a patch on me. They keep on talking about how wonderful such and such places are, how wonderful being here and doing that... There is not a single word about visas, about security searches and all the hassle that comes with travel. We are just so sterilized. Turn a blind eye to reality. Be it. They may ignore me. I will make myself heard somehow. If not in Turkey, in the world. If I cannot do it through the media reaching out to masses, I will go around giving lectures at universities, if I'm not allowed that either, I will talk to people one by one. And there is Internet... Of course if anybody notices you here among the masses. Still... It's good to know that you have the power to say something and the possibility of being heard by some people. I guess, having been to more than a 110 countries on a Turkish passport, I have the credentials to talk about what travel today is...
        Besides, I am just trying to save the world going down the gutter completely. I know mine is not the generally held opinion, I know that very well. That's why I plan to devote the rest of my life trying to make people see the ridiculousness of the way politicians have set up the world. None of the stuff that is being done today in the name of security, is helping to make the world a safer place. On the contrary, we are living in a world where one side is trying to improve protection measures (which benefits body scanner producing companies etc.), the other side is working to improve attacking techniques (which benefits the arms industry)... And we, the ordinary people keep paying for this bs both by being hassled and with our money -that is our time and life as we spend those to earn that green paper... I don't want to live in such a mad world.
        I live a privileged life in a privileged place. But there won't be "real security" unless there is security and relative prosperity in the world. If you are fine with a fake "feeling of security" -and the feeling of security is quite important too, I know that, I give you that... If you prefer the feeling, I understand. But I prefer to have the real security and I want to work for that. There are more than enough resources in the world too. (I won't argue this, it is a belief, that no party can prove... I know something very well though. Richness is not about how much money you have in the bank, the assets you have. I know it because I've seen it. My brother has so much more than me, he still feels "poor", I personally believe I am quite well-off with what I have which probably is one tenth of what he has.) If the hundreds of billions spent in the name of “border controls” and "security" today was spent "on people", on something of real value, something concrete, I am quite sure the world would be much more secure than it is now. And I am sure that is the only way to a better world.

---