JUSTICE

As we Life Stylers agree, our aim is to live a simple, environmentally friendly life style with justice for all.

However, I think people sometimes forget the ‘justice’ part, especially when it comes to immigration. I remember the stories I’ve been told about my ancestors – early and more recent – who were immigrants (mostly from England, which is important to remember), and who took on early homesteads. While many remained on the land, others moved on to other businesses and jobs.

As they came to their new communities, they were welcomed and helped, rather than being met with political parties and people who conveniently forgot that many of their ancestors also arrived from elsewhere – whether it was from a different part of their own country or a different country altogether. People move. It’s as simple as that.

When my ancestors arrived at their destinations, they had to build homes, create gardens, find jobs or create their farms with the necessary tools and animals. Some started with cabins. Some worked for others until they could afford these necessities. One set of my grandparents lived in two tents (one for sleeping, one for cooking), while they constructed their general store and attached home.

It was a very difficult life at first, but one thing remained the same. Their neighbours welcomed and helped them. These neighbours, who became very good friends, came from England, the United States, Iceland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and so forth. And because they had already had to learn many things much earlier, they helped the new people coming in – how to bake bread, how and where to grow gardens, how to can vegetables, how to construct homes and barns (with their help!), what types of livestock grew better there, where the best places to buy everything was… And everyone COOPERATED with each other.

Among other things, the farmers helped each other with the harvesting. When I was a child, I loved hearing the stories from my grandfather about when he (and earlier his parents) heard the traction engine screaming the steam whistle from seven miles away in another community. They and their neighbouring farmers would quickly get the work schedule and crews organised, before the engine arrived in their community two or three days later. Meanwhile, their wives started planning and preparing the large meals which would soon be needed to feed the men arriving at their farms, by turn. (I mistakenly thought it must have been a great adventure…)

A little one room school house was built and a teacher hired – then a second school. Children walked or rode horseback to it each day, including my grandfather and his siblings – and later my own parents. They got together in the school house for social events, then pooled their labour later on to build a small community hall. Their children (including my parents) saved bottle caps, which they used to create the community’s name on the hall above the door. They worked hard on everything they did and they took great pride in it. And they worked TOGETHER and then HELPED OTHERS.

…And the communities were built. And loyalty to those communities and their new countries was established. They paid taxes which paid for new roads, better schools, libraries, hospitals…

And this loyalty all came about because they were accepted and helped by others. They were made to feel welcome by those in their new homeland.

How sad it is that many people have forgotten about common courtesy and helpfulness.  And others, who actually form political parties who spout hatred and racism, urging citizens to believe that the reason for high unemployment sits wholly on the shoulders of those immigrating here – while trying to encourage the rest of us to follow suit. What on earth is happening, that people forget there’s a better way?

Treat others as you wish to be treated!

By J. White