I really enjoyed watching the last season of Netflix’ Ozark. I’m one of those people who pay close attention when I’m watching TV shows. My wife gets mad at me when I point out some error or other. Near the end of the Ozark season, one scene did confuse me somewhat and caused me to ponder. In the scene the two Byrd children are discussing what they would do if their parents were killed. They decided on a plan to disappear by moving from the Ozarks to Oregon or Washington state. This confused me since there is a whole great world they could have chosen. They could have decided to move to Germany or Australia. But they chose Oregon. I wondered why. My best conclusion was that for many Americans there simply isn’t anywhere else. The rest of the world is simply too foreign to think about. American education, American news, American political rhetoric, all focus almost solely on America. America, the wold leader. America, the greatest country in the world. American marines, and their unidentified allies are doing something in some foreign land. The assumption of course is those allies are only less capable helpers to the marines. American propaganda leaves one to believe that there is only one country in the world that matters. Hence the Byrd children never considered another country.
In America today, you can be shot and killed in a synagogue, in a restaurant, in a grocery store, in a school. or at a music concert by some misguided individual. You can also be shot and killed at a traffic stop, or on the street by the police. Being black or Jewish, or Muslim, or Asian or Hispanic increases your risk. What amazes me is that no one seems to think that there is anywhere else to go. You would think that there would be a great migration out of the U.S. Why would people stay where they are hated, targeted and murdered? Don’t they know that they would be much safer in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain or many other countries? Even Canada and Mexico would be safer. Don’t Americans know that most Europeans speak English?
Few Americans would choose to live in a muslim country where a minority want everyone to live under Sharia law. But they remain living in a country with a minority who want everyone to live under an extreme Christian law. Muslims use violence to achieve their aims, while American Christians use the supreme court. I don’t really see the difference in the end result The effect on the population is the same, living under religious repression.
Both groups of course are fighting the same fight, The fight against the great replacement. The Christian right in America are afraid that black, brown, or yellow skinned people will surpass the current white majority and control the government based on the belief that all immigrants will vote Democrat. They won’t. Muslim fundamentalists are afraid that western religions will replace Islam. They won’t. These are both, of course fools errands. The truth is that the world’s population is growing and with that growth there is a growing movement of people throughout the world from every country. Jobs, lifestyle, climate, education, health care, are all reasons for people to immigrate. As individual populations grow people will migrate for any number of reasons. Eventually the population of the world will not be recognizable as white, black brown or any other skin colour. Not by anyones plan but simply by nature. Keeping any one country purely one skin colour or one religion, or even one language simply won’t be able to be maintained. Forced isolation by one country to protect race, religion or language would simply cause that country, no matter how large or powerful, to fall behind in technology, philosophy, culture, and science. In order to find opportunities, an isolated country would start to lose their brightest citizens, further eroding their international position. Loss of citizens means loss of tax base which means restricted development.
The world is made up of only one kind of people. People with a body driven by a beating heart and managed by a functional brain. All people hope, laugh, cry, and mourn the same. All people dream and wish for their children to achieve more than themselves. All people are capable of accepting others and in doing so expanding their view of the world. To see others as different or lesser beings is to deny reality and is an abhorrent position.
