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Immigration as a Theme in Seven Second Delay
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In the context of the forthcoming European Elections and the
apparently inexorable rise of UKIP and other anti-Immigration
parties I felt the need to put a few of my thoughts on the subject
into words.
One of the aspects of my book Seven Second Delay that I’m
proudest of is the positive portrayal of the central character,
Mila, as an immigrant. The book is set in the not-too-distant
future in which I’ve drawn a picture of a war-torn, broken
Europe (The U) alongside a utopian Britain (The Isles). Mila’s
natural inclination is to escape her difficult life in Eastern Europe
and move to Britain. I think it unlikely that the real Europe will
tear itself apart in the way my fictional version did, but
nonetheless, and even without the technological marvels
depicted in the book, the story is perhaps not so far from
today's world.
Immigrants have almost always faced suspicion and rejection
from incumbent populations. But ultimately immigration, even
mass immigration, benefits the host society. A healthy, strong
nation will inevitably attract more people and without an influx
of fit, strong-willed immigrants, many societies would stall and
stultify. This has always been the case. Even two thousand years
ago empires and city states recognised the importance of a
growing population (especially to provide fit young men for
war). Good governments have always understand the
importance of this, which is why few governments even now put
any real effort into limiting immigration. To do so would damage
the economy in the long-term. Who’s going to grow the food
and build the houses when our aging population downs tools?
Of course, a really good government would do more to address
the short-term frictions inevitable when the population of an
area significantly increases in a short time. But that would be
expensive. Governments recognise that people will sort things
out amongst themselves in time and that we’ll all be stronger for
it. Think of New York in the 18th and 19th centuries, wave after
wave of people from all parts of the world arriving, fighting,
crowding, settling and working. New York is stronger for it now.
London and Britain too have seen their own share of
immigration over the last two thousand years. Immigration is
not new. UKIP is not new.
In Seven Second Delay I created two political parties, arguing
over this issue. The Security Party, who want CCTV, razor wire
and watchtowers to protect Fortress Britain. And the Privacy
Party who insist on doing away with governmental control and
monitoring of private citizens. To an extent this dispute is a plot
device. Without the freedoms wrought by the Privacy Party Mila
would have been quickly tracked and caught. But there’s an
important issue here. I don’t see the current and future political
dichotomy as being Socialism vs Capitalism. I see it as being
Freedom vs Security. Do we police the internet? Or not? Do we
open the borders? Or attempt to tighten them? Do we watch
what people do? Or do we leave them alone?
These are the questions to be argued over for the next twenty
years and beyond. The issues aren’t going to go away, and
neither is UKIP.
