It's all crazy, where do I send my check?

Firstly, my prayers are with the people of France, who are dealing with grief, fear and uncertainty. Prayers too for Muslims, specifcally innocent Syrians and other refugees, caught up in the madness that is the ME at the moment.

That said, since Friday, it's almost impossible to have a realistic, rationale conversation about this with people, IRL or on the web. I'm just a middle of the road, live and let live kind of person. Annoyingly moderate, to be honest. I try to consider all sides of an issue and make an informed decision. I was trying to explain this thing in Paris to my niece and, of course, there were lots of follow up questions that, frankly, I couldn't give a straight answer to. At least not one that was accurate or that I felt was remotely honest.

And when I've tried to talk to people about the questions that she had, that I have, I get slammed with crap from the left and crap from the right. All just regurgitated talking points though. The truth is somewhere in between.

The simple fact is that the Middle East is mostly a wreck and has been for ages. It's not the refugees' fault but neither is it my fault. I can't see how it's prudent to allow a mass exodus/influx when their problems will simply follow them. No one, that I have seen, has articulated a way to embed these struggling people into the social fabric of the U.S. in such a way that it will not cause more problems for them and us. It's already caused issues for Europe, even before the Paris incident - unemployment among immigrants for instance. Who pays for that?

I don't see this issue as fundamentally any different than when my Aunt and Uncle are scrapping and my cousin comes to stay with us. He's hanging around with not many resources, not much direction and my Aunt and Uncle are always calling or lurking about trying to get him to come home or fishing for info on what's up at our house. It's just drama, strife, expense and he ends up going back home anyway, only to return with more drama.

Now add to that the risk of terror and, no thank you. I'm hanging out the sign that says "No Vacancy". I don't want to be that asshat that gives into fear. I also don't want to be naive. It's not discrimination. It's not hate. It's not ignorance. It's basic, practical social common sense. It's survival.

When someone comes up with a plan that stipulates background checks, jobs, housing, funding, then I'll reconsider. Until then, I'll just send a check to a non-profit somewhere that's helping them.

This is probably the sanest thing I've read about the issue.

I feel really conflicted about letting in refugees. I really want to, but at the same time I feel that it's somewhat unsafe, and absurdly unfair to my fellow countrymen that are struggling to eat. I also can't stand the thought of being the asshole that says sorry, we're full right now to a little kid trying to escape the horrors back home.

If you ever figure out where to send that check let me know.