Citizenship

Not long ago it was distinctly unfashionable when traveling to carry a passport from South Africa. It was baggage in a very real sense.  It was nothing to encounter a white South African citizen who preferred instead to carry for example a passport from Canada in order to avoid the fall-out of stigma which often accompanied association with South Africa. Already the days of apartheid seem remote. The latest stain upon the international scene is the President of the United States of America. His combined tolerance of - and charity towards  - racists, Nazis and white supremacists has most recently been further contaminated by his feverish dedication to determining the citizenship of those living in the United States of America. If one pauses long enough to ask the obvious question, "Why do we need to know the citizenship of our residents?", it is not something which is readily apparent other than as a political tool and fodder to appeal to the frightened, witless members of society who collectively intend to make themselves taller by trodding upon those beneath them. The indisputable reality is that most of the potentially questionable immigrants in the United States of America are disadvantaged, uneducated and struggling. It therefore seems to be a highly divisive and poorly calculated agenda to commit so strenuously to proving the inadequacy which already exists rather than seeking a way to elevate the mostly ineffective lot of those in need.

When I recollect the history of McCarthyism it is impossible to ignore the similarity of Trump's obsession and the personal, political ambition which is provoking the mania. Perhaps naively I have long contemplated that most Americans shutter to see such misguided intolerance at the forefront of their national platform. I would have imagined that a more pertinent focus would be universal health care and greater access to secondary education, elements which more usefully address the advancement of the population (not to mention preserving competition with what is notoriously emanating from Asia on an Olympic scale).

Given the propensity of Americans generally to view themselves favourably - even oddly to the point of calling their national baseball game a "World Series" - it cannot be highly digestible for them to witness the descent of their national character to the role of a scoundrel seeking to monopolize the lowest strata of society. For one thing the palpable gain in doing so is exceedingly doubtful; there would appear to be far more to be gained by acknowledging that immigrants - like the Irish, Italian, French and German who preceded them - are likely to contribute to the improvement of themselves and their community if given a chance.

Assuming I am correct in my summary view of this current friction insinuating the press, it behooves those who pretend to have intelligence and understanding to confess that the absurdity is simply that. To engage in complicated analysis of what is essentially axiomatic is nothing short of preposterous. It has taken the world and the Americans far too long to confront the truth of their leader.  For a time it was excusable to withstand the peculiarity of the President since everything else was hunky-dory (the economy, employment) but we have long passed that logical foible.  Adding together the outrageous propositions of this President regarding climate change, international peace, support for embarrassing congressional candidates and the overwhelming disobedience to women, gays, browns, Democrats and opposition to gun control, the inescapable question is not what is the citizenship of American residents but rather whether anyone wants to admit to being an American citizen.