Beware The Facade

Had they been informed beforehand as
many possibly were, it would have been
utterly meaningless to a great swath of
humanity resistant to reality, consumed by
a popular belief that elsewhere lies not only
riches but opportunity to be grasped did
they only make themselves present as they
were entitled to do as human beings
convinced they were in need of fortune
that only a mass exodus of migration to
the West could expedite their futures as
they imagine they might be in this age of
mass communication where television
images of personal and corporate wealth
and Internet connections make possible
the viewing of what awaits them if they
boldly set out despite opposition, despite
danger, despite logic. They choose to place
no credence in the warning that they gamble
with their lives, that those advanced and
democratic, wealthy nations have their very
own indigent populations and hordes of
homeless to be sheltered and cared for.
Convinced and hostile to reality, they
surge forward, certain of their future to be
found elsewhere than in the dissatisfying
environment of their countries of birth.
It is not love of freedom or democracy
that drives them relentlessly forward but the
opportunity to advantage themselves of
the values that others have struggled to
achieve; they eschew the time and the
patience it takes to transform their own
societies to emulate that which they envy
and as they move onward bring with them
the travesties of justice and violations of
human rights that are so much a part of
their heritage, culture, religious convictions.