Immigrants are Here...Because Big Business is There...

The Global Village is evolving into a Better Place...But this evolution will be painful and at times bloody...

Tariq Ali has gained a reputation as one of the English-speaking world's most

forceful political thinkers, speaking out consistently against imperialism, religious

fundamentalism, and, most recently, the misguided Anglo-American war on terror,

including the disastrous fiasco in Iraq. Ali's most recent books, The Clash of

Fundamentalisms and Bush in Babylon have been widely praised and read.

Exiled from Pakistan in 1960s for his activism against the                                                                             military dictatorship

I met Tarig Ali years ago in Toronto, Canada.

He was on a lecture tour and I listened to him at University of Toronto... He is eloquent and very interesting...His logic and perspective made sense and charmed me...

Among others things he mentioned: "They ask me in London, England....'Why you are here?'... and my answer to them is...'I am here, because you were there...' "

He was referring to British colonialism in India and Pakistan...

This idea still resonates in me...

Below are the photos of African migrants in Calais, France... They are waiting for the opportune moment to cross the channel into England...To join Tariq Ali...

The misery and brutality of their travel from Africa to Europe is evident...and full of dangers... 

African migrants....on the boat... and then it capsized...

African Migrants in Calais, France...

African migrants waiting ... for the moment when they will cross the channel into London, England...

The colonial legacy is still with us...Africa and the Middle East and Asia...are still under occupation...albeit... of a very different kind...

Example:

Bangladesh is independent and supposedly a "free" country ...

They have a garment industry... American and Canadian and European firms have established their clothing factories there... because of cheap...VERY cheap labour...

I have investigated Canadian department stores...T-shirts with "made in Bangladesh" tags are sold for 4-5 Canadian dollars... In this there is the profit of the store, the profit of the company and the cost...

The workers -women and man- are paid few sects for their daily work...!

So, if they cannot survive on their daily work...what will they do...? 

Like most Canadian and U.S. and European immigrants they will try to migrate...

…And if they cannot not emigrate legally what will they do...?

I am sure ALL of you know the answer... 

After all, survival is a very basic human instinct...

Indeed...We are here...Because they are there...

Migrants from Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala...moving to U.S. border...

 Central American Children in U.S. Border Detention Center

WASHINGTON — The government said Monday it will soon close three

emergency shelters — in California, Texas and Oklahoma — it established

at U.S. military bases to temporarily house children caught crossing the

Mexican border alone. It said fewer children were being caught and other

shelters will be adequate.

 The children are rushing to the us border…They dream of a better life…Their countries are infested with poverty and gangs paddling drugs…and most of the drug consumers are in North America…

They are escaping the drug violence in their countries…

They are escaping the hunger and poverty in their country…

Example:

The banana plantations in Central America pay minimal, few dollars, 

to the works who pick the fruits… They will not be able to survive 

and raise families in that money…

We buy those fruits in our supermarkets very cheap… And at times 

we complain that they are very expensive too…But the workers in 

the Central American countries cannot survive on what they are 

paid…

They are not paid enough…So as WE may have cheaper fruits in 

the supermarkets…So as importers and big business make big profits…

Indeed, they are here…because we are there…

We all have experience with "made in China" tags... 

The Chinese elite is imitating the ways and means of the Global Big Business...

They say capital,meaning money, has no boundaries and no nationality...

The Big Brother is the same whether in China or Russia or Canada or U.S. or Europe...

We are aware of child labour in Asia ... Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia...and Bangladesh, and India...where your running shoes are manufactured...

Yesterday Europe and Canada and the U.S. remembered WW I and its atrocities...

But,

Yesterday...They did not mention Ukraine, and Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Somalia, and Nigeria, and Pakistan, and India, and Bangladesh... and West Africa struck by Ebola virus... 

Yesterday no one remembered Gaza...Palestine and Israel...

Yesterday Manchester City in England blacked out ... in memory of the victims of WW I...

Manchester City blacked out ...in memory of WW I victims...

Yesterday the migrants waited in Calais to cross into London, England...

Yesterday the children slept in the detention centers at U.S. borders...