Migrants, migrants everywhere..

[The Curmudgeon]

When it comes to hot topics, perhaps only Donald Trump turning into some cartoon character of an evil asshole has dominated the headlines as much as this - the migrant crisis.

And boy, Facebook is a fucking riot with this shit now. Scare tactics, racism and downright lies are everywhere when it comes to these people. ISIS are flooding Europe, didn't you know?

And while I don't agree with that mentality at all, on the opposite side of the spectrum (y'know, the good guys) I'm not on board with that shit either.

I don't know how it is in the U.S right now but in the UK people are being urged to help. And hey, why not? Give money, you mean? Food? Clothes? Sure thing.

Except that's not what's being asked. These people are going to have to live somewhere, and that's where we're being asked to help. Do you have a spare room? Could you help house a migrant?

And call me a big old bigot, but the answer is hell no.

Regardless of what country you're in or what language you speak, I am not going to invite you into my house to stay. Just no. I walk by homeless people every day, and while their and the Syrian migrants plight is very sad, I'm not going to share my house with them. I've never had the urge to do that before and that is still the case now.

So am I heartless? Should we help complete strangers into our homes? I'm not saying they're evil or they're terrorists or any of that paranoid way of thinking, but..well, you DON'T know, do you? Call me old fashioned, but I'm not going to go off to work and leave my wife with some strange guy all day.

And what if you don't get on with the person? What if they hate your pets? Or your music? Or they go to bed at 7pm every night? I somehow doubt that "sorry, this isn't working out, you'll need to go" is really going to cut it.

Am I wrong here?

[trashcanman]

Nope. You have a right to a life of your own. It's awesome if you are willing to share everything you have with somebody, but not everybody is wired that way and it shouldn't be mandatory or expected. That said, you do not have a right to aggressively denounce anybody else who comes to your country from some ravaged hellhole, particularly when your country's policies and actions are partially responsible for the state they're in. You were lucky enough to be born into a first world country? Bully for you. Count your fucking blessings. But rest assured that if your choices were let your family starve, be slaughtered by some warlord, get bombed into oblivion, or cross some arbitrary border to a chance at a better life, you'd quite likely choose the last one too and the last thing you need to find there is a bunch of hateful privileged shits telling you you've no right.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah, no argument there. The U.K. Came under some criticism recently for not accepting enough migrants and only agreeing to take in 20,000 over four years, far less than other countries. I saw a petition to try to get the US to take more as well. What's the situation like over there?

[trashcanman]

I deliberately avoid the news, but for the most part, nobody questions legal immigration and I believe Cubans have an open refugee policy. The issue is with illegal immigrants that just sneak across the border and set up shop here.