From El Salvador to the US

As I was browsing today, I came across a very interesting article entitled The Reality of Migration: A View from El Salvador. Written by Joe DeRaymond in February 2008, the article stated that "The latest United Nations figures indicate that 1,070 people every day are leaving El Salvador for the trip north."

To many people who grew up in fairly comfortable surroundings, it might be very difficult to imagine the enormous suffering - physical and psychological - that thousands of Salvadorans endure on a regular basis as they try to improve their lives. Faced with a government that continues to pursue strongly capitalist economic policies, countless Salvadorans are left in a state of despair.

I had lived in El Salvador for a few months in 2005. I used to read the newspapers there and I was often shocked by the comments made by a number of columnists. I can still remember some articles which asserted that any government social assistance was a burden on a country's economic growth and should, therefore, be eliminated. Of course, such articles were never penned by those earning a minimum wage in El Salvador!

As is often said, "the grass is greener on the other side". To millions of poor Salvadorans, it seems that moving to the US is frequently perceived as a journey towards an earthly paradise. Indoctrinated with the concept of the American Dream, many risk their lives in search of a better life. Sadly, many of those who eventually manage to settle down in the US end up seeing their dream transform into a nightmare. Decent jobs are often hard to find and the low salaries earned by several Salvadorans in the US rarely allow the possibility of enjoying a stable roof over one's head.

As far as the US government is concerned, this seems to continue endorsing the witch-hunts for any illegal immigrants. Various anti-immigrant groups have apparently been set up close to the US borders in order to stem the flow of any new immigrants.

It is very sad to see how human beings can turn against one another simply because of the notion of "nationality". No person gets the opportunity to choose the country in which they are born and it is grossly unfair to invent borders in order to avoid sharing the world's resources with other people.

Only Socialism will lead to a world in which man-made borders can be torn down so that all human beings can live together as members of a single family. Only Socialism will ensure that the rights to education, decent housing, and health care are FREELY available to all people. At this stage, I encourage you to learn more about Socialism and to join a Marxist-Leninist party so that we can build a better world for everyone.

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