I Think [george] Orwell Is Right. There

In Canada, The U.s. And Most Of Europe It May Be Easy To Take Political Stands, This Is Something For Which You Can Be Forced To Pay With Your Life, Or Your Freedom, In Many Other Parts Of The World, From Iran To Russia To Pakistan To China.

Some 2,800 Americans Went To Spain [during The Spanish Civil War], And It Was, By Far, The Largest Number Of Americans Before Or Since Who've Ever Joined Somebody Else's Civil War. I Think They Were Primarily People Who Were Deeply Alarmed By The Menace Of Fascism. They Saw This On The Horizon. I Quote One Volunteer, Maury Colow Of New York, Who Said, "for Us It Was Never Franco, It Was Always Hitler."

In His Fierce, Bold Determination To See The Lives Of Modern-day Slaves Up Close, Benjamin Skinner Reminds Me Of The British Abolitionist Of Two Hundred Years Ago, Zachary Macaulay, Who Once Traveled On A Slave Ship Across The Atlantic, Taking Notes. Skinner Goes Everywhere, From Border Crossings To Brothels To Bargaining Sessions With Dealers In Human Beings, To Bring Us This Vivid, Searing Account Of The Wide Network Of Human Trafficking And Servitude Which Spans Today's Globe.

Compared With How We've Ducked It In The United States, Canada Should Be Really Proud Of How You Have Welcomed A Significant Number Of Refugees - Far More, In Fact, Than We Americans Have, Even Though Our Population Is Vastly Larger.

I Think Writers Can Respond By Writing About The Refugee Crisis, By Looking At Problems Faced By Migrants, By Trying Hard To Portray Them As The Human Beings That They Are.