8 Reasons I Love Immegrants

[Andrew Gubb]

1. They're often non-judgemental - they've been judged enough not to want to do it to others.

2. They often make an effort to be nice because they know that's the way they'll be accepted in society, or at least not so rejected. Or maybe the countries they come from have just a culture of being nice to people. Probably a bit of both.

3. They don't believe in the orthodox life. Well, they can't, they aren't part of the orthodox life. This often leads them to finding consciously-chosen ways of living rather than default ones.

4. They've travelled, and I love travellers. The coolest people I've ever met have almost all been travellers. There's something about travelling which opens your eyes like nothing else.

5. Their unique cultures, languages and physical appearences add fascinating variety to our towns and cities!

6. They are often entrepreneurs, even though they have little money to do so with.

7. They sell cheap stuff in their shops. They also stock interesting foods and so on which you couldn't otherwise find in our countries. I doubt there would be even a fraction as many chinese shops in Barcelona if there weren't chinese people to make and frequent those businesses. But I couldn't live without the fascinating vegetables, snacks, seaweed, etc which they stock... all at far lower prices than health food shops.

8. They're human beings. As such, they're made of pure love and joy. Sometimes it's more obvious, sometimes it's less, but that core of divinity is the true essence of all of us.

[JDuff]

Did you mean to spell "immigrants" incorrectly? Just wondering because it might be some clever play on words and I've never been quick at catching on to jokes!

But it's nice to hear some positive things for a change! When things go badly it is always easier to try and look to outsiders to blame, which may explain (to a very generalised and small extent) some of the "they are taking our jobs and resources" argument.

[Andrew Gubb]

Originally Posted by JDuff

Did you mean to spell "immigrants" incorrectly? Just wondering because it might be some clever play on words and I've never been quick at catching on to jokes!

Whoops, no, a spelling mistake

But it's nice to hear some positive things for a change! When things go badly it is always easier to try and look to outsiders to blame, which may explain (to a very generalised and small extent) some of the "they are taking our jobs and resources" argument.

Yeah. In general I think people have this sense of "us and them" which goes back centuries. They have their own culture, with their own rules, and just as you can't break the rules in your own culture without getting ostracised, people who come from a different culture automatically do everything "wrong" and are ostracised.

People wo have no culture but are a part of all cultures are called "open minded"

[Agota]

Awww, that's cute

On the other hand , at least when it comes to UK and London in particular, I can understand why British people are generally not very positive about immigrants (and I've lived in London for two years), so it's not so one sided as some immigrants like to paint it..

[WarrenG]

I loved living in London because of the immigrants. It might be the most diverse city in the world, and very tolerant with it. Where I used to live had a massive mix of races and nationalities, it was awesome. I loved hearing 10 different languages when I just popped out to the bank or whatever.

And you can ask people where they're from and what they like and dislike about England. Someone told me she was surprised how tolerant it is here, how you'll get jews and muslims living in the same street without problems. I don't know much about that, but apparently we're doing something right.

But indeed Agota, overall most people are against immigration by my guess, and I reckon London is the most accepting city. Outside of London less so, and especially among the older folk.

Therefore, if this referendum on whether to stay in the EU or not goes ahead, well, it's been nice knowing you all!

But it probably won't.