I certainly plead guilty to being in the large group of people who bang the traditional media for irresponsibility, ignorance, bad reporting and just plain laziness. So, it's nice to point out outstanding work in the traditional media -- and there is a piece in The New York Times magazine posted now that is really worth reading.
It's called "The Dream Boat" by Luke Mogelson (who I don't know so this is not an inside job promo!). It's dramatic, heart-wrenching and an amazing use of text and video. It tells the story of a group of asylum seekers fleeing towards Christmas Island.
Out of the long personal story of the people, I just want to post this one sentence:
"But what makes Australia unique is the disconnect between how prominently boat people feature in the national dialogue, on the one hand, and the actual scale of the problem, on the other."
That rang loud and true. That's not just an Australian problem. It's true in the U.S. and other countries as well.
People who largely economic refugees fleeing to try to survive elsewhere end up being targeted and victimized because they are powerless. And they end up being seen as the enemy by the very people who are victims of many of the same factors that come right directly from one central fact:
The "Free Market" has failed and it has robbed people of the ability to make a decent living, across the globe.
You wonder why millions of Mexicans crossed, and still cross, the border to the U.S. (though those numbers have declined since the economic crisis in the U.S.)? You can thank NAFTA, which impoverished Mexicans, pushed them off their farms and, at the same, screwed millions of working class Americans.
Anyway, read the piece. And pass it on.