You Can't Say History Teaches Us This

During My Youth, The Idea Of Moving From Lebanon Was Unthinkable. Then I Began To Realise I Might Have To Go, Like My Grandfather, Uncles And Others Who Left For America, Egypt, Australia, Cuba.

Taking The Line Of Least Resistance, We Lump The Most Different People Together Under The Same Heading. Taking The Line Of Least Resistance, We Ascribe To Them Collective Crimes, Collective Acts And Opinions. "the Serbs Have Massacred…", "the English Have Devastated…", "the Jews Have Confiscated…", "the Blacks Have Torched", "the Arabs Refuse…". We Blithely Express Sweeping Judgments On Whole Peoples, Calling Them "hardworking" And "ingenious", Or "lazy", "touchy", "sly", "proud", Or "obstinate". And Sometimes This Ends In Bloodshed." – Amin Maalouf "on Identity

Our Ancestors Derived Less From Life Than We Do, But They Also Expected Much Less And Were Less Intent On Controlling The Future. We Are Of The Arrogant Generations Who Believe A Lasting Happiness Was Promised To Us At Birth. Promised? By Whom?

... We Die, Just As We Were Born, At The Edge Of A Road Not Of Our Choosing.

Isn't It A Characteristic Of The Age We Live In That It Has Made Everyone In A Way A Migrant And A Member Of A Minority?