An open letter to not-Americans | Off-Tech
Hey everyone! It is Jason, from imthemobile.guru. I hope everyone is doing great and I hope this dispatch finds you well. I wanted to address some things so that hopefully, perspective can be placed on the events that happened this weekend.
Here at imthemobile.guru, we have an international audience. While I might not have the depth in raw numebers that I would like, there is breadth in the number of countries that are represented in my readership. Allow me to demonstrate this visually:
I am very proud to have such a diverse audience, and I am thankful for the translation services and the technology that allows different countries and different cultures to consume the content that I create here. This is the reason for my writing to you today. I intend to use this platform to clear up misconceptions that many of you might have following some of the events that transpired over the weekend. My intent is explain why Americans do the things they do, say the the things they say and continue to believe the things they believe. I hope you digest this content with a healthy amount of skepticism. The same amount of skepticism that you should have when consuming any content on the internet, the radio and especially the television. Skepticism is healthy, and it makes for an environment of enlightenment. With that…let us get right to it.
Unlike Most Americans
I have one thing in common with all Americans: I am an American. That is where the commonality between myself and all Americans ends.
Unlike most Americans, I have traveled outside of my country to many of the countries that you reside: Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Australia, New Zealand…and many others. Every trip that I have made to your country was a beautiful experience. I met people like you. I communicated (or at least tried to) with you and laughed with you. Ate lunch and dinner with you. I debated you…with respect, in order to learn more about you. I respected your laws and I respected your culture. I studied the things that I should and should not do before making entry into your home and while I visited your country so that I could leave a positive footprint as an ambassador of my country. I did my best to make sure that when I left I would be welcomed back. I never, not ever…felt I had the right to come back to your country. In fact, it is quite the contrary: I feel like I was a guest. And a welcome guest at that. Because your hospitality was always gracious, I have always longed to return to the places I have visited to once again speak and laugh with the people I spent time with.
That is a testament to your hospitality, and I am eternally grateful for that.
Most Americans do not believe the way I believe. That is their right. Most Americans believe they have the right to other peoples money. They believe they have the right to other peoples labor. They believe they have the right to other peoples services. They believe people have a right, a constitutional right, to make entry into this country. I do not share these beliefs, and nothing could be further from the truth. Just like I do not have the right to come to your homeland because I am not a citizen, those who are not citizens of my country do not have that right. While we welcome all visitors and even encourage them to become American citizens, until that time they are not citizens and they do not have the right of a citizen of the United States, even if their “status” is “legal-permanent”.
Just as I was a visitor to your country, you expected me to respect you laws and you culture. This was rightfully so, because I do not have the same rights in your country that I do in my own country. As I am aware of that, so should you be.
Unlike most Americans, I took an oath to defend the United States Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is not an oath I take lightly. Just as you would not want anyone to come into your home and do you or your family harm, I would not want the same. Not for you, or for me. Like you, I would want all peaceful visitors to come and share peaceful experiences with me. When it was time to part ways, I would want to make sure that person felt welcome to come back through the means in which they…and everyone else…need to go through to come back. If they decided to call this country their home, they would need to become a citizen. Once that happens, all the rights of citizenship apply. To come home whenever they want is one of those rights.
You will consume content this week that will contradict the things you have just read. I implore you to be skeptical of that information. You will hear people attempt to tell you that people of a certain faith are not welcome to the United States. These things are said because of political expediency. Nothing could be further from the truth. We accept people from all faiths. We do not judge people by their beliefs. We judge people by their actions. Because there is a stark difference between the terms, “legal”, and, “constitutional”, it is very important to understand the differences. These terms are obfuscated, again for political expediency. It is something that many of you also have to deal with. Politicians will purposefully deceive in order to gain support for their own agenda. Their words are not spoken out of love or even consideration of the people they presume have, “rights”. They are simply using these people, in their time or temporary despair in order to gain support to discredit someone else. In my country, this is a right that Americans have. While it is not ethical nor is it moral, they have a right to say whatever they want.
But they do not have the right to be heard, nor do they have the right to be believed. My hope is that you will scrutinize their sentiment, and their words — as well as the premise upon which that sentiment was delivered to you. The platform you used to consume that information should also be considered in your judgement. And as the Oracle at Delphi wrote:
Make just judgement.
Thanks for reading, and God bless.
Jason Yeaman
Originally published at imthemobile.guru.
