And I Think To Myself…..Connection….Emigration….
by Bernie Bell - 16:16 on 06 June 2024
And I Think To Myself….
https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-024-01582-8/index.html
…what a wonder-full world….
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Connection….
As part of an exchange about thoughtful behaviour, my correspondent wrote…
“I particularly notice the time taken to sort things out. In our culture when people fall out, it's a time wasting nuisance, and we are quick to distance ourselves rather than seeing a chance to restore and strengthen connection.”
To which I replied…
“I’ll rein myself in from really going off on one here. I have previously ranted about how, on the television for example, ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Coronation Street’ promote the idea that if someone annoys you, you kill them - and the killer usually gets away with it!
I tried to track down my rant to post it here but I can’t find it now – maybe best!
It’s everywhere though – all around us – particularly in the Media – nastiness, sheer, plain nastiness is lauded. Vicious lashing out or brooding resentment is seen as the way to deal with any difficult situation. Or, they 'un-friend' them on Facebook'!
Reason and reasonable, kindly behaviour is being suffocated. And observation shows me that people learn from/copy what they see in the Media.
When I was growing up there was a general idea that friendships took time to grow and included ups and downs – sometimes even a big ‘falling out’ at times – but, true friendship worked through all of it. As you say – that appears to be getting to be less and less the case.
I find that folk appear to think that if we disagree, we are suddenly Public Enemy Number One to each other – which is non-sense – it’s simply human, to differ.
I do, at the same time, believe that there are also plenty of people around who try to live from kindliness and balance. It can be a hard belief to hold onto at times – but I do try to.
To quote Van Morrison… ‘And it’s everpresent everywhere – warm love.’
I wrote the following some years ago…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2017/11/05/keep-on-keeping-on/
And this a few days ago – Part Two is relevant to this exchange…
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16863
I’ll stop now – could write a dissertation on it – someone, somewhere probably is doing so. Not me though – I just try to live my life as best I can.
Here’s something else, from a man as knows – Kurt Vonnegut…
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=995391751942918&set=a.273251597490274
NIL DESPERANDUM!”
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Emigration….
It's that time of year, and I know someone who is on holiday in Germany. He took a trip to Bremerhaven where among other places of interest he visited the Museum of Emigration….
With his permission I’ll include his account of his visit….
https://swaldman.dreamwidth.org/518023.html
“This is a really good example of modern museum design, with innovations I haven't seen anywhere else. On arrival I was given an RFID card and a slip of paper telling me "my emigrant" - who I was for the purposes of the visit. In my case it was a German who left from Rotterdam in the late 18th century bound for New York. As I moved through the museum I got to find my immigrant among plenty in a library. They had constructed really good sets for a quayside, where you climb aboard a liner. It did make me stop and think about getting on a ship and leaving everything and everyone behind. Also for arrival, a reconstruction of both Ellis Island, and then Grand Central Station. Text was in German and English, and the audio (which there was a lot of) was triggered by the RFID card - so for me it was in English.
The museum approached a delicate subject with nuance : It was clear about what was settled history, and what is up for debate. It introduced a number of historic and live debates around emigration, immigration, and colonisation, and showed different viewpoints. At one point there was a room that included a real library with actual books on the relevant topics, so that those who wanted could spend time learning and reflecting.
At a number of points along the route there were "Critical thinking stations": I scanned my RFID and was asked three or four multiple choice questions about my identity and then about my views on immigration. At the end of the visit I was shown a summary of my responses and, for some of the more controversial questions, offered videos from experts discussing different viewpoints, followed by the option to change my answers. Sadly these were only in German, but I think they are working on subtitles. Then there was a big screen showing the statistics on how all visitors had answered. Apparently the dataset being generated is being used for actual research on attitudes to these topics.”
This is a strongly topical subject at this point in time, and visiting this Museum might encourage folk to think more deeply, even alter their views about, why people leave their home and homeland to take their chances in a strange land.
“When the shadow of poverty darkened our door, we left Mother and Ireland because we were poor.”
One example is the tale of Eynhallow/Canada…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/11/26/bernie-bell-orkney-walks-with-stories-eynhallow-to-canada-2/
Another major reason for emigration is persecution. People fleeing persecution have contributed enormously to British and American Society over the centuries – there are simply too many examples for me to even attempt to list them!
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