The man now in Kansas, where I knew, came from Guanajuato, where I didn’t, so I went to the atlas. At once I was struck by the stark differences between the political and natural maps. The political world is a multi-hued patchwork of man-made borders. Pretty greens and pinks and blues and yellows denote continents, countries, confederations, counties and states.
The same areas on the natural map take on more serene quality.
It is the world in its truest, God-made natural state. No borders, just stretches of green, with ridges of black and brown for mountains and orangey-red for deserts all separated by vast expanses of blue. Life flows freely throughout the Natural World, while in the political world people are kept out—and sometimes in—by artificially created manmade borders.
This observation unearthed a truth that had been stubbornly buried within my subconscious: it is the disparity between Natural law (God) and manmade law that is at the root of human strife and suffering.
The subject of my search, Pedro Flores, is a case in point. Pedro was a farmer put out of business by drought. The only available water goes to the well connected few, leaving the distraught many barren of opportunities. Some, like Pedro come with the proper documentation. Others follow the natural yearnings of a better life, even mere survival. Ironically, they may end up in land that was once part of Mexico depending how far south in the US they go.
Many of those who come are farmers who were done in by the inequities of trade laws. NAFTA and US government subsidies have allowed American farmers to sell crops much cheaper than can Mexican farmers, who have no such subsidy. Mexicans who for generations have toiled hard on their land were suddenly plowed under through the laws of commerce and contrivances of governments beholden to special interests. Perversely, some may be working on farms that sell the corn that necessitated their northward migration to begin with.
Nature’s law is “live and help live,” which is a hallmark of the American character. In fact, Americans have largely welcomed and enjoyed our Mexican brethren. Yet we are nowhere near that idealistic state of perfect harmony that would allow people to roam as freely as the birds of the air. And so it is entirely reasonable regulate immigration into our country.
But we must make and adjust those rules in a way that best allows us to live in accord with Nature’s laws. That process will demand a high-minded collaborative process that treats fairly and with compassion all concerned: the American taxpayer, the immigrants now here, and those waiting to come.
The final policy might therefore include some of the following:
1) A guest worker program as President Bush has suggested
2) A requirement for employers of undocumented workers to enlist them in this program, collect payroll taxes and otherwise pay and treat them as our law demands for citizens;
3) A track to citizenship for those working and obeying our laws,
4) English only instruction with bi-lingual education only as a means to learning English
5) Job preferences for American citizens who otherwise meet job qualifications and employer expectations.
Americans are well versed in living by Nature’s highest laws. We need only remember that as we craft our own.
Respectfully, Richard F. Dawahare 4/19/06
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