One quote from the first article, Hot Spots: What They Mean, really struck me. It reads, “Contrary to what is generally thought, and in spite of the efforts of human rights activists and humanist policy makers, generosity has never been the main reason for granting asylum” (Fassin, 2016). Is it really even a question of generosity? Would it be noble for these countries to grant entrance to those individuals fleeing from war-torn, impoverished, broken homes? No, it shouldn’t be a question of generosity, and it shouldn’t be something deemed as extraordinarily noble. It should simply be how the world works. It didn’t surprise me that the act of granting asylum was economically and ideologically motivated, but I guess the word “generosity” was puzzling. I don’t understand how it could possibly be a generous thing to do. Much like my beliefs on salient issues such as marriage equality, I truly believe that the ability to move throughout the world freely is something that should be universally granted to all human beings.

It’s rather disheartening to think about how apathetic of a world we live in. We need social relationships to survive, we need communities, partners, friends, neighbors. We rely on each other more than we are willing to admit but as soon as it becomes a question of lending out your hand to help someone who isn’t exactly like you – we retreat and get cold. The human race was not developed to be successful through isolation, it was developed and succeeded through cooperation, reliance, trust and empathy. We oftentimes forget our roots – we forget where we came from and we forget how to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. If every human being had an extraordinary capacity for empathy, there simply wouldn’t be any issues. I know that’s a very idealistic way of thinking, but it’s just interesting to think about. I don’t understand how more people are incapable of empathy, or at least choose to be.

Can we not see that they are human beings, too? Can we not see that if we were born in a different time or place, that could have been us? Does Alphonse’s story not move any human being who reads it? That’s another thing, this idea of faith and hope. I’m someone who has always been hopeful, someone who always wants to believe in the best in people. These individuals risk their lives and leave everything believe in “hope” of a better future, only to be disappointed by the inevitable outcomes. Yet they remain hopeful, they remain resilient, and they persist. That, in my opinion, is unbelievably extraordinary. How can one human being carry so much faith through endless adversity? These are the types of people you should WANT in your country, these are the types of people you should strive to be like, these are not the types of people who deserve to be incessantly and irrepressibly marginalized and silenced.