Immigration and the search for Elysium
Last year, I went to see a movie with one of my friends... I was not the one who did the selection, but I like Mat Damon, so I was happy nonetheless.
Elysium is a movie about a ruined Earth where the majority of the world is ruled by robots and lives under dire living conditions. The rest of the population are the super-wealthy "elite" who live on a space station and have the best living conditions with advanced technology that enables them to control and enhance their biological structure and cure cancer and everything that humans on Earth could only dream of.
Humans on Earth try to immigrate to Elysium desperately by going into the black market of spaceships and giving all their tiny fortunes to some space sailors and board these ships... then as they approach Elysium outer space, Elysium shoots down the ships killing everyone aboard ... often the passengers are sick children and their mothers ... seeking cure for terminal illnesses.
The movie resonated strongly with me ...
Throughout my life as a young girl, I saw how desperate my people were to go to "America" ... America was the Elysium ... For people ruled by corrupt violent governments, living under strong financial need, stagnant economy, absence of opportunities in life, and in some cases terminal illness that could only be treated elsewhere or even within my country but for very high costs ... For these people ... Elysium was often the only option ...
I ended up realizing at the tender age of 15 that I, too, need to go to Elysium ...
Being an ambitious woman, with acres of dreams to incur change in my society, the only way not to lose my mind and my spirit was to go elsewhere to be me first, then come back to try to salvage what is left of my home.
I made it to Elysium ... Canada ... and making it to Elysium was not an easy task... I worked on my degree for five years like a horse .. I spent most of my degree in the library or on the top bunk reading and writing and learning ... then I did everything I thought was useful ... I took every volunteer opportunity I could find, every English book that could lend me a new word .. and searched every country that could offer me an acceptance in a graduate program ...
At times, I almost gave up on ever landing an admission as many institutes have an unwritten rule that "An equivalent M.Sc degree from a third world country could possibly equate an undergraduate degree from an "Elysium" institute" ..
I hit a really emotional and mental low one summer evening , almost one year after my graduation, and I couldn't motivate myself out of my bed for an entire week ...
It hit me how tragic it is when you know what I you want out of life, and you have the capacity intellectually and physically to obtain it, and you never lacked the motivation or dedication to accomplish any task given to you, yet .... no one is willing to give you a chance ...
All I could think about in those moments six years ago was "Just give me a chance ... I just need someone to give me a chance"
Now, immigrants without university degrees, good fortune, or any belonging in this world are risking their lives just to get a chance ...
All they want is an opportunity to come into a small job that will send their families some bread on the table ... They are not seeking adventure or glory or even attempting to change the world ... They literally need this chance for some food ... Yet, the Elysium of their world shoots their hopes and places it inside detention centers, then sends them back to that old hole without giving them the chance at that dream ... no sympathy for their horrid marine stunts or hungry gaze towards possibilities for them and their families ...
It breaks my heart ...
In Elysium, where I live, there are thousands upon thousands of acres of land ...populated by wild grass and rabbits and deer ... and no one lives on it ...
In Elysium, where I live, there are so many laws and bylaws protecting small animals, medium-sized animals, and large animals ... I wonder if those on the boat count in any of these categories ...
In any case, these are my personal thoughts ... if I had the power, people should be given chances to make it in life ... I understand Ayn Rand would disagree with me, but my argument is simple ...
We are not born equal intellectually or physically or emotionally ...
Thus, we should at least be given a fair shot at making things work ...
However, since life is indeed a bitch, we are never given fair shots in life ...
Some of us have to dig deep for it, swim across the canal, board a sinking boat across the Mediterranean, hide inside a storage room at the bottom of a plane or on top of moving train roof ...
Some of us have to make the trip across more than one country boarder to make it somewhere ...
Dear life, at least give those of us a chance to make it after their Herculean efforts ...
They have earned it ...
Elysium is a movie about a ruined Earth where the majority of the world is ruled by robots and lives under dire living conditions. The rest of the population are the super-wealthy "elite" who live on a space station and have the best living conditions with advanced technology that enables them to control and enhance their biological structure and cure cancer and everything that humans on Earth could only dream of.
Humans on Earth try to immigrate to Elysium desperately by going into the black market of spaceships and giving all their tiny fortunes to some space sailors and board these ships... then as they approach Elysium outer space, Elysium shoots down the ships killing everyone aboard ... often the passengers are sick children and their mothers ... seeking cure for terminal illnesses.
The movie resonated strongly with me ...
Throughout my life as a young girl, I saw how desperate my people were to go to "America" ... America was the Elysium ... For people ruled by corrupt violent governments, living under strong financial need, stagnant economy, absence of opportunities in life, and in some cases terminal illness that could only be treated elsewhere or even within my country but for very high costs ... For these people ... Elysium was often the only option ...
I ended up realizing at the tender age of 15 that I, too, need to go to Elysium ...
Being an ambitious woman, with acres of dreams to incur change in my society, the only way not to lose my mind and my spirit was to go elsewhere to be me first, then come back to try to salvage what is left of my home.
I made it to Elysium ... Canada ... and making it to Elysium was not an easy task... I worked on my degree for five years like a horse .. I spent most of my degree in the library or on the top bunk reading and writing and learning ... then I did everything I thought was useful ... I took every volunteer opportunity I could find, every English book that could lend me a new word .. and searched every country that could offer me an acceptance in a graduate program ...
At times, I almost gave up on ever landing an admission as many institutes have an unwritten rule that "An equivalent M.Sc degree from a third world country could possibly equate an undergraduate degree from an "Elysium" institute" ..
I hit a really emotional and mental low one summer evening , almost one year after my graduation, and I couldn't motivate myself out of my bed for an entire week ...
It hit me how tragic it is when you know what I you want out of life, and you have the capacity intellectually and physically to obtain it, and you never lacked the motivation or dedication to accomplish any task given to you, yet .... no one is willing to give you a chance ...
All I could think about in those moments six years ago was "Just give me a chance ... I just need someone to give me a chance"
Now, immigrants without university degrees, good fortune, or any belonging in this world are risking their lives just to get a chance ...
All they want is an opportunity to come into a small job that will send their families some bread on the table ... They are not seeking adventure or glory or even attempting to change the world ... They literally need this chance for some food ... Yet, the Elysium of their world shoots their hopes and places it inside detention centers, then sends them back to that old hole without giving them the chance at that dream ... no sympathy for their horrid marine stunts or hungry gaze towards possibilities for them and their families ...
It breaks my heart ...
In Elysium, where I live, there are thousands upon thousands of acres of land ...populated by wild grass and rabbits and deer ... and no one lives on it ...
In Elysium, where I live, there are so many laws and bylaws protecting small animals, medium-sized animals, and large animals ... I wonder if those on the boat count in any of these categories ...
In any case, these are my personal thoughts ... if I had the power, people should be given chances to make it in life ... I understand Ayn Rand would disagree with me, but my argument is simple ...
We are not born equal intellectually or physically or emotionally ...
Thus, we should at least be given a fair shot at making things work ...
However, since life is indeed a bitch, we are never given fair shots in life ...
Some of us have to dig deep for it, swim across the canal, board a sinking boat across the Mediterranean, hide inside a storage room at the bottom of a plane or on top of moving train roof ...
Some of us have to make the trip across more than one country boarder to make it somewhere ...
Dear life, at least give those of us a chance to make it after their Herculean efforts ...
They have earned it ...
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