It appears that last week’s Moscow
migrant conflict is composed of both cultural and religious disagreements—a
combination that could prove to be catastrophic for the Russian capital. At the
risk of being religiously insensitive, it appears that the Muslim’s acts of
insubordination were initially mildly passive, involving no bombings or
hostages. However, this conflict came to a head when an advocacy group blamed
these new Moscowans for the murder of an ethnic Russia, and a full out civil
war broke out.
I find this civil disagreement to
be so interesting because, though it involves an occasionally boisterous
religion, no real radical behavior has been realized to date. Sure, someone was
killed—not that this should be treated flippantly—but no churches or public
transportation mediums have been bombed, and no terrorist threats have been
made. This leads me to believe that this struggle is cultural, not unlike what
we experience here in America. Both Moscow and the United States are melting
pots of ethnicities, and issues like this are experienced every day. Whether it
takes form as a gang shooting between the MS-13 and the Bloods in Los Angeles
or the Westborough Baptist Church protesting military funerals in Arlington,
cultural clashes occur in our homeland—a self-proclaimed peaceful nation—on a
daily basis.
After examining this divergence in
Moscow, I can’t help but wonder when the U.S. will attempt to make the kinds of
immigration reforms Russia is seeking to implement soon. Opponents of American
immigration reform make the classic argument that America was discovered and
founded by immigrants and that everyone has the right to reside here if they go
through the due legal process of nationalization. This is indisputable but
misses the point. The exponential influx of illegal immigrants in America has
caused, or, at least, perpetuated, a variety of issues in today’s society.
Nationwide crime rates and the national debt have skyrocketed and jobs have
been occupied by those who evade taxes and contribute little to society. I am
all for foreigners legally coming to America for the opportunity for a better
life—without this ability, I would not even be a citizen here—but illegal
immigration is America’s version of the Moscow conflict. Changes must be made to
both societies and only those who are willing to sacrifice the time and effort
to migrate should be allowed to do so, and those who have neglected to be
nationalized should excommunicated until they legitimately municipalize.
Works Cited
Baczynska, Gabriela, and Igor Belyatski. "Over 1,600
Migrants Rounded up after
Ethnic Riots in Moscow."
Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 23
Oct. 2013
It is a cultural clash indeed. It seems unlikely that any major action will be taken to curb immigration in Russia. If anything, the situation is more akin to the US, where reform is aimed at legalizing groups and gaining acceptance for them. It is certainly true that immigrants take jobs and sometimes do not pay taxes, and reforms are more aimed at fixing these problems. Of course, even if people complain about immigrants taking jobs, it seems preferable to the alternative of them not working, no? Reform is aimed in part at getting more people to pay taxes. Crime has actually dropped steadily since the 90s, which is one of the reasons I think that the political climate is ready for reform.
ReplyDeleteI especially like how you draw the comparison between United States immigration hopefuls and this issue. These cases clearly run parallel to each other. Hopefully basic immigration reform is all it will take to end the mayhem in Russia, however I think it would be a sad day for the us to see a nation as tumultuous as Russia make greater strives toward effective immigration laws than the United States. The U.S. has been the standard to which other great powers are compared to for quite sometime and for the "Nation of Immigrants" to be beat at its own game would be hard to watch.
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