Should we be ashamed? Why, yes, yes we should.

The New Colossus
BY EMMA LAZARUS
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The New Colossus

I'm sure by now most have seen the pictures, those heart breaking, gut tearing, eye-searing pictures of the dead little boy washed up on the shores of Turkey. Drowned along with his brother and mother trying to escape the insanity that is Syria.

His father is the only one left of that family. How many others have died, will die, unremarked in those waters? Or in the desert south of my own country?

These are the people Emma Lazarus spoke so eloquently of. The homeless. The tempest-tossed. Meanwhile we sit here in comfort telling them, in words and action there's no room at the inn. We're full up. Not to put too fine a point on it, but bullshit. These people don't want a fifty room mansion with a view of the ocean, they want a roof, a couple of meals, more than that they do not ask for, other than it be safe.

Is this too much to ask for? Us with our multiple TV's. Our multiple cars? Our refrigerators stuffed, or even overstuffed with food? Are we so insular, so full of ourselves that we can't spare a little room for Aylan Kurdi, his brother, his mother, his father? All they ever wanted was to be safe. Well I guess he is, assuming for the moment that there is a loving God outthere somewhere in the Universe.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

It's time we remembered these words, or maybe re-learned them... Many of our families, especially here in the U.S., were once the huddled masses, the wretched refuse, the homeless and tempest-tossed. Relearned them and maybe live them. We should, and can if we choose to, help them.

All they want is safety. How many more little Aylan Kurdi's will there be before we remember, assuming we ever knew, that we are, and always have been, our brothers keeper? We have failed so many of our brothers/sisters, Aylan is only the most public. How many others have we failed? Left in the hands of merciless bandits who kill them without consequence, steal their treasure without consequence...place them is conditions we would never tolerate for ourselves, again, without consequence.

Is our self righteous proof against even...

*image link removed. doesn't really need to be here.*

It's madness to allow this to be taking place in Syria. In Mexico. Africa. Anywhere, at all.

Are we so enamored of ourselves that we've forgotten that there are others that need our help? Are screaming for it? What matters their ethnicity? The name they call God?

Spare me the excuses. For that's all they are. Excuses. There are ways to help these people, we just have to be willing to find them, and the heart and soul to carry them out.

Unless you have a yearning for more images like the one above. For surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, it'll rise over yet another scene just like that one.

As a final note: As an American, I'm reluctant to cast stones about the behaviour of other govts... But PM Harper needs to, along with his sycophants in the cabinet, be punched right between the eyes. I've always admired Canadians, still do, the govt. not so much, especially today. How nice of them to offer the father a place after his kids, and wife, are dead. I'd have told 'em to f-off, too.

...and yes, my govt. is no better, so don't bother going there.

Ah, yes, almost forgot... Isn't this why the U.N. was created? To help solve, or ever prevent, this sort of humanitarian crisis? Well done, to General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and the rest of the mouth-breathing idiots of the U.N. Useless, the lot of you.

Remember this: There but for the grace of God, go I. Or, as with the wheel, what's on top today, can be on the bottom tomorrow.

I'm poor so not really.

a reply to: seagull

Perhaps you shouldn't have implicitly supported the war in Syria.

Go cry rivers to Russia and Iran, Assad is their tyrant who went all Stalin on his people, killing them in the streets to start off the whole Syrian civil war. All the deaths since can be traced back to those fateful days when he rolled tanks out to crush demonstrators. Imagine if he would have thrown money at them instead of stockpiling chemical weapons for so long.

Your audience hear you...

Your target audience are now too apathetic and brainwashed to respond humanely.

I won't be back to read the incoming excuses.


Just to say, there are plenty of others, pictures all over Twitter all week.

It's a f#ing disgrace.


RIP.

a reply to: TinfoilTP


So their lives don't matter?

What does your drivel have anything to do w it? I've seen you say all lives matter

Hypocrite

a reply to: seagull

The parents chose to leave a NATO member nation which was not oppressing them (Turkey) and pay someone to provide an overloaded inflatable dinghy to leave that safe nation to claim asylum in their preferred safe nation.
They could have claimed asylum in Turkey, been provided food and shelter, but they chose not to.

I support arguments for the UK to provide money and resources to all those safe nations, heck fund it with increased income tax by a few percent if need be, but keep these people close to their own lands, safe, until they can return to rebuild them.

The clashes currently in Hungary where people are refusing to register and claim asylum just show how folk are being more picky but less fleeing war/oppression.
They choose to leave safe Turkey via dangerous means across the Med.
They chose not to claim asylum in a safe country.

originally posted by: Shamalamadingdong
a reply to: TinfoilTP


So their lives don't matter?

What does your drivel have anything to do w it? I've seen you say all lives matter

Hypocrite

When the US wanted to go in to Syria after Assad went full blown tyrant on his people, the world said no to saving people just like them. So yes their lives matter but Russia Iran and others blocked their lives from mattering. Go shout about it at them.

fleeing christians? that would explain the lack of support. just saying. . .

a reply to: seagull

Are we so enamored of ourselves that we've forgotten that there are others that need our help? Are screaming for it? What matters their ethnicity? The name they call God?

Or what does your nationality, ethnicity, the name of your god matter to them.
Go there and find out.

Even in asylum centers it seems to matter since incidents occur often between asylum seekers, christians have been thrown overboard by others on their way to Europe a few months ago.

For us it may not matter, but that does not mean it doesn't matter to a great part of humanity.

Your speaking to the wrong people I feel about an emotive subject that is being tackled from the wrong end!

How many Children died through drinking dirty water or no water at all TODAY I will tell you one every five seconds!!!!
however the group of children dying of lack of the most basic human needs have been ignored by almost everyone on the planet I can not understand why that is

Let everyone in, lets bring everyone from Syria and further afield into Europe and what do you think will happen?
Do you honestly think there will be no impact on the people already living in Europe?

Syrian refugees/migrants are paying thousands of pounds to traffickers who are allowing the killing to occur why no mention of these Traffickers
The UN must be brought to book for allowing this crisis to build and people, ordinary people, are going to have to think what do they really want from their governments
I believe that all the armament manufacturers in the world should pay into the united nations, or some such group, a revenue that would cover the cost of the displaced people due to the fighting using the weapons sold to the affected countries. I believe all the religions that insist on money being paid by their followers should put the money into helping the war torn humans and not just pray for them nor build bigger temples . I believe its time that when a war is started, and when it is over, the governments and leaders should be called to explain their actions and reasons, and if found lacking in humanity,or having vested interests, charged as criminals. I believe as humans there has to be a better way to live on this planet than killing without consequences peace and love has got to be better than hate hate hate

I dont think we should blame the common people anywhere for the profiteering and callousness of the few and no i dont feel guilty i feel powerless to change a very complex set of situations that have come to a head due to people in power not tackling the problems of most of mankind with empathy decency nor compassion

originally posted by: TinfoilTP

originally posted by: Shamalamadingdong
a reply to: TinfoilTP


So their lives don't matter?

What does your drivel have anything to do w it? I've seen you say all lives matter

Hypocrite

When the US wanted to go in to Syria after Assad went full blown tyrant on his people, the world said no to saving people just like them. So yes their lives matter but Russia Iran and others blocked their lives from mattering. Go shout about it at them.

Errrrr.... Assad didn't start this mess, the west did.
Syria was always a secular state, very little trouble at all, but Assad didn't bow down to Israel and thus has to go. Once the western backed, funded and armed Islamist "rebels" were finished in Libya, they were transported out along with arms to get things going in Syria. Very few of the "Syrian" rebels were actually from Syria, but were instead from western backed proxy groups.
So, don't go blaming Assad for this mess, or Russia or Iran either, put the blame squarely where it belongs, on the heads of the USA, the UK, Israel and all those others who go along with the constant warmongering.

originally posted by: undo
fleeing christians? that would explain the lack of support. just saying. . .

Remember my post about the 20k marchers in Birmingham?

This was one of the causes that they were raising money for ......but they were downcast because the hashtag was #alllivesmatter

Funny to see people on here supporting Helping these people on this thread, while on my other thread they were trashing the march

originally posted by: astra001uk
I dont think we should blame the common people anywhere for the profiteering and callousness of the few

Aside from choosing to not claim asylum in a safe country (Turkey) and then choosing to risk children's lives crossing the Med.
Yeah, real desperate to claim asylum, choosing the safe country they prefer, even after they have escaped oppression/war.

This is what they are fleeing, Considering the UK pumped in the best part of 1 billion £ in "aid" to unseat Gaddafi and destabilize Libya, Ye we should be bloody ashamed. Syria was fall out from Libya.

WHile i look at a map, I see borders. But when I actually look at the land....i can't help but notice the complete absence of borders (save for borders shared with bodies of water, anyway).

"their own land"....human history is filled with constant migrations. To a degree that we can say that human migration has never stopped. Earth is akin to a rolling boil of animal migrations that ebb and flow like all cycles. "The own land" is subjective, and seems to be related more to agreements among a few folks that then get filtered down.

"they should fix their country"....the notion of government working for the people is laughable. Everywhere. Without exception. Government works for itself. It may provide some services for the people...but never in value with what it takes. In most cases, the people who say these kinds of things, themselves, come from countries that are directly causative to issues in these 2nd ad 3rd world nations.

"Im poor, too...what do you want from me?"....said on your internet connection. LOL Its not that everyone has to actually do something like donate their last dollar. Its more about shaking off that apathy, and not voting for the lesser evil any more. If government is suppose to work for you, then why let it serve you liver and onions every election cycle? If you are reading this from a western nation, then your government is to blame. Which, by proxy means you are to blame. We are all stirring this pot together.

That is...unless anyone actually believes that western involvement in western Asia over the past 60 years has been anything but utterly devastating.

a reply to: earthling42

I don't care whether my ethnicity matters to them. Or the name I call God.

They need my help. ...and as I can, they'll get it.

I'm poor. ...and were the circumstances different, I'd want someone to help me.

Muslim. Christian. Jew. What the Hell ever. They're in need. They're in pain. We can, as a group, force our governments to change policies. If we choose to.

No one is saying this'll be easy. I'm not so pie eyed crazy as to believe that. It's going to cost blood. It's going to be heart breaking in the amount of time it's going to take.

There is no magic solution, would that there was.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Yeah typical no substance SNPesque lame soundbites, you don't surprise me Solo.
Present a sourced or reasoned argument and we may find mature discussion, but you don't appear to wish for reasoned discussion, just childlike infopics as usual? Lame.

a reply to: seagull

I think it's past the time to shake off the excuses and the apathy and start moving. This is a humanitarian crisis and we in the west OWE our neighbours a safe haven from the hell they are escaping.
No child chooses where it is born, this whole mess is not their fault.