Thinking about xenophobia, Ive come to realize that it often misrepresents itself. When a sheikh stays at the Mandarin Oriental in Munich for a month to do some shopping and take his four wives to the dentist, nobody seems to mind. We appear to have nothing against rich tourists from Russia or China roaming the Champs Élysées either. Politics is politics, we say to ourselves, and we go ahead and staff our luxury stores with people who can cater to the needs of the rich from all over the world. Sometimes we even go to foreign countries to stay for a while. Do we have to learn the local languages, let alone the customs? No need. When we are in Dubai or Shanghai, we hang out in what we call expat networks, and we throw huge Halloween parties. After all, its a globalized world, and everyone is everywhere, right? It is only when some of the more disadvantaged people come too close to our homes that we realize that they are somehow... different. Too different. This is the (somewhat oversimplifying) point that I am trying to make: that which we call xenophobia, is not necessarily the fear of all that is foreign. It is the fear of all that is poor.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 09:46:22 +0000
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