Arizona borders on intolerance

This week, the State of Arizona passed and signed into law SB 1070, which gives police the power to verify a person's immigration status whom they "suspect" are illegal. By all accounts, this law is nothing more than legal racism, just another opportunity for Americans to pick on a minority that cannot defend themselves. SB 1070 is a sign of the times we live in. America's mood is getting foul and with it comes intolerance and scapegoating. The message is clear from Arizona: If you are swarthy and speak with an accent you better have your papers in order, otherwise Officer Jim Bob is going to show you the power of his badge, and baton.

Nationalist, right wing, law-and-order geeks have won this battle, casting aside any sense of empathy or compassion for their fellow human beings. They need a reality check.

America is a concept. It exists in our heads, on maps and in legal documents. But it is not real; it does not occur in the physical universe. Look at a satellite image of the planet. Mother Earth has no borders.

Furthermore, we are no more American than Mexican or Chinese. "American," is a man-made, legal title. Instead, we are all human beings of the same blood and bone, born to this planet and thus, equally have a right to it.

Nationalism is an ideology that only divides us from our fellows. It inevitably inflicts some horrible injustice upon another group. It creates anger and resentment, helping only to perpetuate the cycle of violence that has plagued this planet for so long.

Despite what is preached on AM radio and Fox News, illegal immigrants are not the problem to America's woes. White-collar, Wall Street crime and capitalism's greedy, unregulated, profit-over-people ethos has more to do with our suffering economy than someone washing dishes for sub-standard wages.

It is no secret that capitalism goes through boom and bust cycles. The Communist Manifesto was very clear about this. After each boom, it states, "society suddenly finds itself put back into a state of momentary barbarism; it appears as if a famine, a universal war of devastation, had cut off the supply of every means of subsistence." And that was written as far back as 1848.

It is not illegal immigrants, but unregulated, rapacious capitalism and poorly conceived economic policies that bring about recessions, depressions and their subsequent high crime rates.

Let us not give in to reactionary hatred and legalize cruelty like Arizona. It is frankly, in the simplest terms, outdated. It is time for a truly 21st century solution toward immigration.

We must forgo the petty, bloody allegiances of nationalism and embrace our planetary identity. Humanity is our one, true family. A sane solution where we target the economic/financial policies responsible for commercial collapse is desperately required. Anything less would be scapegoating and punishing innocent people for simply trying to eke out a better life.