Big 'ol Narrative

I can officially say that I'm 4/5s of the way through my dissertation. I never thought I'd be able to write around 10,000 words about economics, but apparently I can surprise myself on occasion.

To finish it, however, that's a bit too much of a leap. When I'm done, I'm done with London. The companies I interviewed with weren't willing to sponsor me for a work visa. It's a bit ludicrous, this new conservative position on immigration that David Cameron has espoused. Reducing the amount of qualified immigrants (I think I fit under that term) is only detrimental to the country. Besides increasing genetic diversity (a funny point to make, but a valid one), larger influxes of qualified immigrants can help grow business sectors due to better qualifications and international experience (language, international business, etc.).

Besides that, I just want to live here. It's a nice country, never too hot nor too cold, the people are pleasant, etc. I've had a few interviews where I could have gotten the position except for the one looming elephant in the room: a work visa. It's not as if I'll be working illegally and not paying taxes: hell, I welcome taxes. It helps fund the NHS, social services, police, fire brigade, etc. So why shouldn't I get the chance to live and work here?

This is always one of the reasons why I can hardly ever get behind any conservative position, whether it's in the US or the UK: it's jingoistic. It's overly nationalistic to the point of narcissistic nihilism. Let the rest of the world be damned, we are the best! Let us pound our chests until we cave in our bones just to show how dedicated we are to our countries and our "own!"

The UK is part of the European Union. Without European Union membership, the UK would be worse off economically. Hell, the US depends on the EU so much that if the EU were to completely embargo the US, the world would shut down. Nationalism falls when you realize just how much you need the "others" in order to survive.

A fine flow of qualified immigrants is not a detriment in any sense of the notion. For those ardent Milton Friedman followers, allowing immigrants to live and work within a country should increase the competition of the native workforce and, if it stands to reason, the native workforce should increase its own quality to keep up.

I just wish we didn't let borders determine who is "us" and who is "them." It's a piss-poor way of defining a person.

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