Luis Bello
Articles
Hypocritical Equality
(Published March 2000 in La Raza)
American gold is not so real. One must sacrifice too many things to live in so different a country. It is not easy to be submitted every day to the question of whether it is worthwhile. “The certain thing is that, here, there is not as much delinquency, and I can eat, and my children will have an education some day… but I ask myself if they will feel like they are without a country. If my family will see them as Americans while here they will be seen as Hispanic. They will be capable of hating their origins, of renouncing their family. I ask myself if they will feel proud of what their parents have fought for.”
I am going to try to show you, in my humble opinion, if so great an effort, be it by our own or foreign decision, is worthwhile: I have verified that the immense luck of an immigrant is that the majority of Americans do not think the same way since they have few problems; for that reason, they oftentimes create them. The majority of things they have in their lives is gained with a minimum of sacrifices. It is incredible to confirm that obesity and depression are the most common illnesses in the U.S. It is logical that a full stomach lacks need (need intensifies ingenuity).
"We are the most free, cultured, rich, good-looking." This could be the slogan that the U.S. sells to the world. The reality is quite different: here people are less happy, don’t give a second look, and haven’t prepared for many circumstances since they have not had to live them. The perspective is very different when the life is full of comforts.
Here we consider mass media as remote-controlled by the government and multi-nationals, and many meaningless and stupid norms. It is not lost on me to ask myself if this is liberty (we already know that the media are bought everywhere, but here most people don't believe it). The lack of liberty is noticed when one steps foot in the airport, which has entrances for Hispanics, Europeans, Americans, people of all kinds of origins… different treatment and forms depending on one’s origin. I do not know if this is a symptom of liberty. It is curious that this country takes its liberty for granted and uses it as an example in front if the world because of it.
It is freedom to prohibit an ad in Spanish in the Chicago Tribune for Spanish-language improvement classes. (This happened to me; the classified ad was directed to Americans that already know this Hispanic language, therefore it did not interest them to run the ad in a language other than English).
The myth falls apart if we speak of culture. We can verify it through different examples. If one watches world news in the U.S., one will realize that they don’t cover foreign news; all the news is about the U.S. This serves to show us that some have no understanding about basic geographic concepts and that some mass media are egocentric when they look at the world without leaving the borders of the U.S.
What a culture that has a supervisor, denounced by a Hispanic citizen who worked for him in a Kmart, who verbally attacked a worker because of his Hispanic origin. It is very serious and sad that being Latin American has become a reason for someone to degrade him. This does not happen in other countries. This citizen knows that what he is doing is bad but he knows that he has some type of social endorsement when he dares to attack a person in this way.
The rich, yes, do not lack money. So much wealth and affluence is frightening. The rich have a look that always implies distrust and fear. The rich always believe that everyone around them is about to take something from them; they do not understand the free offering of friendship that makes them infinitely sad.
And good-looking, I am going to say, is a question of preferences.
The cosmopolitanism and the multi-culturalism attempted against the social system of the U.S. New ways of thinking, new ways of life put seductive consumerism in danger. It gets out of hand, although we are all victims of this uncontrollable force that obliges us to spend meaninglessly, leaving us to believe in the advertising for useless things.
The immigrant is happier. This happiness is in the smallest things. The economic and racial difference does not influence them in their personal happiness, in their individual lives. Someone who risks, who fights, who knows the real value of the things, he is freer.
Time cures all. Racial crossover allows us to be a more open society. We already find ourselves in a new society in which children of immigrants are perfectly adapted and presented with fewer racial problems. With the passage of time, we will forget and reality will totally transform the present situation.
Always remember, when someone misses his homeland, the distance is a formality since the mind does not consider it. As soon as a person steps into a country, it is already a part of him. For all this, it is worthwhile.
For more articles, click here.
(Published March 2000 in La Raza)
American gold is not so real. One must sacrifice too many things to live in so different a country. It is not easy to be submitted every day to the question of whether it is worthwhile. “The certain thing is that, here, there is not as much delinquency, and I can eat, and my children will have an education some day… but I ask myself if they will feel like they are without a country. If my family will see them as Americans while here they will be seen as Hispanic. They will be capable of hating their origins, of renouncing their family. I ask myself if they will feel proud of what their parents have fought for.”
I am going to try to show you, in my humble opinion, if so great an effort, be it by our own or foreign decision, is worthwhile: I have verified that the immense luck of an immigrant is that the majority of Americans do not think the same way since they have few problems; for that reason, they oftentimes create them. The majority of things they have in their lives is gained with a minimum of sacrifices. It is incredible to confirm that obesity and depression are the most common illnesses in the U.S. It is logical that a full stomach lacks need (need intensifies ingenuity).
"We are the most free, cultured, rich, good-looking." This could be the slogan that the U.S. sells to the world. The reality is quite different: here people are less happy, don’t give a second look, and haven’t prepared for many circumstances since they have not had to live them. The perspective is very different when the life is full of comforts.Here we consider mass media as remote-controlled by the government and multi-nationals, and many meaningless and stupid norms. It is not lost on me to ask myself if this is liberty (we already know that the media are bought everywhere, but here most people don't believe it). The lack of liberty is noticed when one steps foot in the airport, which has entrances for Hispanics, Europeans, Americans, people of all kinds of origins… different treatment and forms depending on one’s origin. I do not know if this is a symptom of liberty. It is curious that this country takes its liberty for granted and uses it as an example in front if the world because of it.
It is freedom to prohibit an ad in Spanish in the Chicago Tribune for Spanish-language improvement classes. (This happened to me; the classified ad was directed to Americans that already know this Hispanic language, therefore it did not interest them to run the ad in a language other than English).
The myth falls apart if we speak of culture. We can verify it through different examples. If one watches world news in the U.S., one will realize that they don’t cover foreign news; all the news is about the U.S. This serves to show us that some have no understanding about basic geographic concepts and that some mass media are egocentric when they look at the world without leaving the borders of the U.S.
What a culture that has a supervisor, denounced by a Hispanic citizen who worked for him in a Kmart, who verbally attacked a worker because of his Hispanic origin. It is very serious and sad that being Latin American has become a reason for someone to degrade him. This does not happen in other countries. This citizen knows that what he is doing is bad but he knows that he has some type of social endorsement when he dares to attack a person in this way.
The rich, yes, do not lack money. So much wealth and affluence is frightening. The rich have a look that always implies distrust and fear. The rich always believe that everyone around them is about to take something from them; they do not understand the free offering of friendship that makes them infinitely sad.
And good-looking, I am going to say, is a question of preferences.
The cosmopolitanism and the multi-culturalism attempted against the social system of the U.S. New ways of thinking, new ways of life put seductive consumerism in danger. It gets out of hand, although we are all victims of this uncontrollable force that obliges us to spend meaninglessly, leaving us to believe in the advertising for useless things.
The immigrant is happier. This happiness is in the smallest things. The economic and racial difference does not influence them in their personal happiness, in their individual lives. Someone who risks, who fights, who knows the real value of the things, he is freer.
Time cures all. Racial crossover allows us to be a more open society. We already find ourselves in a new society in which children of immigrants are perfectly adapted and presented with fewer racial problems. With the passage of time, we will forget and reality will totally transform the present situation.
Always remember, when someone misses his homeland, the distance is a formality since the mind does not consider it. As soon as a person steps into a country, it is already a part of him. For all this, it is worthwhile.
For more articles, click here.