Welcome Romania.

I got a new Follower this morning - two ladies called Ildiko and Flavia from Harem6art in Romania. It got me thinking about immigration to the UK.

Most of our immigrants used to come from parts of the old British Empire, like the West Indies and the Indian sub continent. Over the last twenty years, however, we’ve been getting increasing numbers from Africa, Eastern Europe, and the trouble spots in the Balkans and the Middle East. People complain mightily about this. ‘They’re taking our jobs,’ they say, ‘and they’re polluting our culture.’

I find this a sad and negative attitude. If I walk down a street and see different styles of dress, different coloured skins, and hear languages I don’t understand, I revel in the richness laid out before me. The world with all its beautiful faces is coming to my doorstep. Why would I want to complain about that? I don’t see it as ‘pollution.’

Sure, they’re taking ‘our’ jobs, but that’s because we in the west have created a system in which it is convenient to invite people from countries with a lower cost of living to do jobs that, to us, are too low paid. And why do we have to think in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’ anyway? The world is replete with resources that can even be sustainable if we have the will. I see no ethical justification for the west greedily grabbing the vast majority of what the world provides, and then complaining bitterly when the less financially favoured want to share some of it.

I want to see an end to ‘us’ and ‘them.’ We can all keep our cultures, but still share what we have. One world. I’m sure we could do it, if only people everywhere would develop the will.

So welcome Ildiko and Flavia. I’m glad you visited my blog. And if you want to come in person, I’ll gladly shake your hand and welcome you to this piece of earth.