This is my second post on my list of things I believe can be what our children will see as the racism or sexism of our generation. I believe the lack of representation in the political processes migrants face is an immoral action that I do my best to abolish. Long live the White Genocide!
Not being represented is a constant in the life of a migrant. Think of the standard two-parent two children migrant family. Two people pay taxes on a yearly basis. Four contribute to society and make their nation thrive. However, no one represents their interests in the nation the reside. Four people, zero representatives.
It hurts me to acknowledge that I do not know the word for not being represented. Misrepresentation implies intentionality or negligence. Underrepresentation implies the lack of an adequate aggregation of the peoples' preferences. Migrants are taxed without being represented in the political process.
Gerrymandering is a common form of misrepresentation. Populations are divided in such a way that the will of the people who make the divisions are taken forward. Not the will of the people.
If misrepresentation is immoral, underrepresentation is unholy. A clear example of underrepresentation is Catholicism. 40% of all Catholics live in Latinamerica. Yet, during the election of Jose Maria Bergolio, the whole of Latin America cast 13 votes, less than the 28 votes cast by the Italian cardinals! A quarter of Catholics live in Europe, yet over half of all votes are cast by European cardinals. "God [please] give me the confidence of mediocre white [men]" to fill even your heaven with their hubris.
Unholy as underrepresentation might be. Migrants experience worse. We are not heard. We do not have access to politicians. No one cares for us in the country we live in. No one cares for us in our countries as we do not form part of any actual district inside our parents' nations. Migrants are free labor.
In my favorite book: The Dictator's Handbook, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita explains that the job of any leader is to keep themselves in power. <-- Period. A leader does not need to care for their followers. A CEO does not need their company to perform well. A dictator needs to keep whoever keeps them in power happy.
Bueno de Mesquita's book is a black hole of human morals. It took me months to recover from its inhumanity. As I came out of the charred hole Bruce cast around me, I learned a sad truth. Whoever makes decisions that affect me cares only about whoever puts them there. I know I am repeating myself. But this is important.
In a Gerrymandered district in the US, the elected official cares for the people who divided the district and made it impossible for the other party to win. The Catholic church cares only about the WEIRD vote, as the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Developed nations account for the two-thirds of votes needed to keep a mediocre white dude in power.
No one. Literally no elected official represents the well-being of a migrant. They might say they do. For example, a finance minister might care about the gross domestic product of their nation.. This is. a big problem for any finance minister because the Gross Domestic Product can grow in two ways, one by improvements in productivity (this is very hard). Two, by increasing the population (this should be easier).
If a team of alien scientists came to Europe, they would say that Europeans suck at sex. This reality fills the nightmares of hoards of racists. This nightmare is the reality that WEIRD nations remain prosperous by diluting their pure white blood with the influx of black and brown. A White Genocide, as racists call it.
I like the name White Genocide. It shows how fearful racists are of black and browns. It also directly explains the conundrum of the finance minister. See, on the one hand, they were put in power by someone elected by the nationals. People who can vote tend to enjoy having more prosperity around them and keeping traditions afloat. On the other hand, nationals do not multiply enough to patch the holes in their prosperity float.
If the minister allows more brown people in, then their party will go out of power. If the finance minister "makes Europe great again", then prosperity goes down as the population collapses. It's a fun job and the closest to a "representative" of a migrant in government.
Kant said: Act so as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, at all times also as an end, and not only as a means. Think about this for a second. How are migrants treated by the minister? As a means, you said? Well done.
Indeed, the minister sees the opening or closing of borders as a gas pedal to their economic model. We, the migrants, are willing to be imported. For us, the transaction often involves a tremendous increase in our quality of life. We are happy to come to Europe. But do not fool yourself into believing that the actions of these ministers are ethical or represent our interests.
Once we step into European soil, we are pure labor. If we lose our jobs, we often need to leave. Our visas are built in such a way that only if we marry a local can we enjoy the same privileges as the people who will die a few miles from home. If we do not engage in white genocide, our whole existence hinges on our productivity. We need to earn significantly more than the locals. We need to work. We are labor.
We are taxes that comes with no strings attached.
