Migrants

Refugees arriving in Greece from Syria

Migrants. Migrate. Birds famously migrate; so do shepherds and their flocks. Salmon and trout, fisherman will mention, so do eels, to the Sargasso Sea.

And as famously, so does the human animal. Starting in Africa’s Rift Valley and moving to all compass points as pressure of population encouraged them, maybe forced them to seek out more space.

That’s the key to this particular point in history; the weight of population. It’s nothing new; think Rome and the barbarian tribes; think Attila and his Hordes on their little horses, Genghis too coming out of the east. Think of the more recent migrations; unprecedented numbers arriving in Northern America during the last century, freely slaughtering the indigenous people to make the most aggressive and warlike country on this planet.

The real catalyst is population growth, leading to pressure. Consider: China is 1.3 billion people, India is 1 billion. Cities like Cairo, Mexico City, Djakarta and Sao Paulo are 50 million plus; larger than almost all European countries.

All but a very few of these people live lives very different from ours. Life expectancy is much shorter, health care and education nothing like ours. They aspire to dream the American dream and failing that, Europe will do for now. 

What is happening now is simply a taste of things to come. If you don’t believe me look up your Gibbon: “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”. Presently they are being polite and asking to come - playing our game of visas and asylum, but soon they will simply arrive; weight of numbers, like the white settlers destroying the Native Americans.

We should be thinking how we can all share the resources available; how new immigrants can enrich and embolden our crumbling societies not building sandy defences against an unstoppable tide.

Alaric the Goth's sack of Rome

yUK election results and their place in history

Applying for an entry visa - Genkiz Khan style

 I've always taken the longer view. History is cyclical and demographics the single most important factor in driving history. Think of the barbarian hordes overrunning Rome; Genghis and his boys on their little horses arriving at the gates of Buda and Pest; Attila too. Think of the environmental effect of the current population explosion on our planet. The Black Death, bubonic plague, halved European populations with consequent effects on social structure and mobility.

Super city Shanghai

The world and its debt is today owned and run by one great super power. China. 1.3 billion people. India is more than a billion and Indonesia rapidly approaching it. No other political entity is anywhere. Pretty soon these peoples are going to stop playing our silly games and applying for visas and permission and simply arrive - just like the Goths, Vandals, Genghis and Attila. Let’s talk cities; Cairo, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Djakarta, and many cities in India and China have populations in excess of most European countries except Germany and Russia. 

Climbing the fence in Ceuta

Population explosion in Africa, together with pressure caused by indiscriminate weapon sales and subsequent suffering by peoples unable to follow their traditional ways of life peacefully, means that both North and Sub-Saharan Africans are climbing fences in Ceuta and Melilla despite Spanish troops shooting at them, and boarding sinking, leaking boats to cross the straits to a life in the poisonous greenhouses of Almeria.

From the coast to the mountains under plastic; where does your fruit and veg come from?

"May you live in interesting times." is an old Chinese curse. As historians we live in fascinating times; for many, many marginal people they are beyond dangerous.

Taking the longer view, the election results in Little USA mean little; confirmation that the Brits have taken to a greed driven society like a duck to the wet stuff and abandoned almost totally any concept of Cooperating and caring for others. Clearly conservative under both Conservative and Labour parties, Britain has distributed wealth EXACTLY right. There are enough people who feel they’ve “never had it so good!” They feel rich enough to vote for the rich. There still aren’t sufficient people poor enough to burn, bomb and eat the rich. Cameron knows exactly where the line is and will stop just before it.

While politically, nations are splintering along ethnic, cultural and linguistic lines, real power is being exercised by large multinational corporations who answer to no political government. Indeed, quite the reverse; when will they finally consider it not worthwhile to maintain this tenuous farce and privatise “the government”, simply do away with nations as political entities, as China has done away with Tibet and Russia will soon do with Ukraine? Not long now I fear. 

Which brand do YOU live in?