Ethics and Immigrants..In a Lifeboat
If you haven?t yet read the forum, I posted what I callThe LifeBoat Question. Basically, I gave you the scenario of being in a lifeboat with people struggling in the water around you. What do you do?
Many of you offered solutions, and I hope to touch on those soon. First, however, I need to lay a little groundwork.
How many times have you heard somebody say ?We all share the earth?, or the basic argument of ??we all share life on this planet, so no single person, country or institution has the right to use more than it?s fair share of resources?? I know I?ve heard it before.
But is it exactly true? Do we all have an equal right to Earth?s resources? I intend to argue that we don?t.
Dividing the world into rich nations and poor nations is a relatively easy task. Just look at the quality of life. Everybody knows that the USA is at the top of this list, and countries like England, Australia, France, Spain, and Canada follow closely behind. Middle Eastern countries, African countries and those in South America fall on the other list.
Ok, so now the metaphor: We, my friends are living in the rich countries. We are the people in the lifeboat. We have higher chances of succeeding in life (we?re floating), we have sufficient supplies (food, fresh water), we have comforts(extra room).
Others in this world are not as lucky, they?re left swimming along fighting for their basic survival. It?s just the way of world. There will always be 3rd world countries, and some people will be born into a harsh life.
Now, what do we do? Some of you took the classic Christian outlook on the situation. We are all brothers, even those swimming outside the boat. We all have the same needs, we?re all entitled to the same fortunes. You chose to let everybody in. The boat eventually sinks, everybody dies. Complete justice is achieved, we all meet the same fate, yet it ends in complete catastrophe. Clearly this is not a practical solution.
Some of you chose a ?bleeding heart? type approach to this situation, allowing some people to come in to the boat. After all, some is better than none, at least we?re saving somebody. In come more people, food runs out, comfort room is lost. We no longer have a safety factor. A slight change in the wind may capsize us, fill us with water, or send the boat toppling. Our chances for survival are now close to 0.
Suprisingly, none of you chose option C: Don?t let anybody in the boat. Many of you thought of this option as immoral, yet it is clearly the ONLY one that allows for your survival. Contrary to what I?ve noticed on religion posts here, many of you seem to have Christian or Marxist ideals when it comes to people suffering.
So what can we learn from this? Clearly the only way to ensure our own survival is to separate the rich from the poor. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. This is precisely why communism failed and capitalism thrives.
If you haven?t figured it out yet, the lifeboat is the US. The poor in the water are people from other countries, and the same theory applies on a larger scale. What do we do with immigrants attempting to come into the US? Do we let them all in? Do we let some in? Or do we turn them all away?
Letting them all in will clearly end in mass catastrophe while letting some in will again affect our ?safety zone?. Our country is currently stable. There isn?t much surplus, and the economy is dwindling down (4 more years!!). If we let in some immigrants, it will only take one crop disease, or change in the weather to induce the next great depression. It?s precisely that ?comfort zone? that keeps America thriving. Clearly, there is a strong case for NOT helping the poor.
Some of you however, chose to let somebody else have your spot. Some of you were prepared to drown and sacrifice your own life to help your fellow, albeit less fortunate, man. Those of you that chose this option are hypocrites. Sadly, you sit here in your heated home, browsing the internet on your computer, and eating processed food while millions of people around the world are dying from lack of basic necessities.
How many of you would be willing to live up to your choice and actually trade places with somebody in Somalia? Wouldn?t it be the proper Christian thing to do?
Authors Footnote: I cannot take credit for the lifeboat idea. It was originally posed in 1974 by Garret Hardin. (Link )
November 4th, 2001
