albion:
“What are we if we don’t stand up for our dignity and our culture - animals?”So said a Syrian man that is returning to Syria after finding Germany too liberal for his liking. Programme tonight, Our World: Escaping Europe on BBC News channel, examining why people are heading back to Syria and the trade in European documents for those trying to get in.
But it struck me that anyone of us can ask that question, what are we if we don’t stand up for our values. We are all different, go to Germany and it feels different to France, to Italy. I’m no great fan of watching whatever my culture is, of fragmenting . I like the differences in us all, I want the Greeks to be idle, the Germans to be efficient etc because that marks us out as different people, with different history.
If I moved to Syria (God knows why I would), or Spain, then I need to abandon my culture in public, I need to fit in. That works in reverse. Whilst there is racism in the UK, I belive that what really makes people angry is when subsets of people decide that they want to set themselves apart and wilfully ignore their host country. When was the last time the Chinese community made demands, or the Hindus. It’s always the radical Muslims that cause trouble and make natives feel uneasy.
But that man, already a middle-aged man with a family, also voted with his feet - although he did sound both like an ingrate and naive about Western society in the circumstances. It didn’t actually state the precise nature of his objection iirc, but for someone highly conservative it could have been as simple as expecting his children to go to school or (assuming his children were girls) mingle with boys.
If you were fleeing war and found refuge in a rural Indian village, you’d certainly throw down the gauntlet if you were suddenly expected to marry your 11 year old off to “fit in” with local custom - even if you were happy to live and let live with your hosts, there are some things that are just too morally sensitive to be expected to participate in yourself. As a responsible father with a settled moral fabric, you just wouldn’t have it.
What I found more surprising was the other case, about a young fella with a skilled background, who actually had hopes and wanted to integrate but wasn’t able to, and basically said the Germans are taking care of our bodies but not our minds. That’s the real sad story.