Collaboration vs Control
Two very different ways to solve problems
After listening to disparate news stories this week that offered examples of problem solving - one motivated by control and the others using collaboration, I definitively know I will always stand in the corner of collaboration.
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of England, is attempting to carry out the plan initially devised by Boris Johnson to sell the UK's unwanted asylum seekers and migrants to Rwanda for $300 million.
Let that sink in.
Desperate for myriad reasons, people fled, knowing the risks, in hopes of creating a better life than what they had in their countries of origin. Over 100 of them, that we know of, have died crossing the English Channel since 2020.
Sunak wants to SELL the ones who made it. In fact, he’s already paid Rwanda the $300 million even though not a single migrant has boarded a plane.
Rwanda, a country that is ranked 24th in the list of the poorest countries in the world.
Rwanda, a country with significant human rights issues, including unlawful or arbitrary killings and torture, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment by the government. And those are just the top two items in the list of atrocities. While the government took some steps to prosecute the officials who committed these crimes, they have been unsuccessful.
Rwanda, a country with one of the highest population densities in sub-Sarahan Africa. Roughly the size of Vermont, it holds over 14 million people while the state known for cheddar and Bernie Sanders tops out at 645,000.
Some might think that control is the easier way to solve a problem. But Sunak has faced enormous opposition, even from within his own party, who feel the plan isn’t conservative enough.
Although it got caught up in the court system for a time, Parliament narrowly passed the first step this week. We’ll watch the rest of it play out in 2024 as those who have a modicum of humanity fight to keep it from being implemented. The bill, if it becomes law, would allow the UK government to “disapply” sections of their human rights law regarding Rwanda-based asylum claims and make it more difficult to challenge deportations in court.
In a diametrically opposed strategy, as the UN Climate Talks wrapped up in Dubai, more and more kids joined forces to slow the impact of climate change. Working together, a group of students in California has turned more than five-thousand pounds of food waste into compost with the help of a local farmer and their science teacher.
This one project helped reduce the amount of methane gas, one of the most potent gases that warms our planet, produced in landfills when food is just thrown away. While Los Angeles has a recycling program for food waste, the adults in the room knew it was important for the kids to see the impact firsthand and I suspect they knew this experience would cause some of them to expand their involvement in climate justice.
These elementary school students got to see and examine personally where the orange chicken they couldn’t finish or the burrito that was too big ended up. And the project did lead some of the kids to branch out. One created a lemonade stand and donated $200 to the National Resources Defense Council, a non-profit that defends our air, water, and land.
Another helped create a petition that got the school to use compostable silverware instead of plastic. One little boy said, “Knowing I'm a part of something good just helps me sleep at night, and, like, helps me know that if we can just work together, everything is going to work out fine.”
In another story, I learned about a high school junior in Boulder, Colorado who became a leader in the Net Zero environmental club. A recent policy they helped spearhead has reshaped how the school system deals deal with the climate crisis by establishing more climate sustainable infrastructure, climate curriculum, climate disaster plans and pathways to green jobs.
I understand immigration and climate change are not the same thing. But we could learn a lot about how to approach a solution from kids using their energy (that could be spent playing Minecraft) to find ways to improve the health of our planet.
The first thing that’s required is honesty. The two political extremes waste time spouting rhetoric about immigration at each other and playing neurolinguistic games that completely discount the other’s point of view.
Here’s the truth:
Immigrants cost money at first. Eventually, the economy will benefit but a solution is needed for the interim.
People vehemently opposed to migrants operate from a poverty consciousness centered in fear that there will not be enough for them.
Every country has the right to establish guidelines around how many people they choose to let in and the responsibility to make it law tempered with compassion.
Those collaborating to stop climate change have admitted the truth.
Yes, weather is cyclical. And yes, how we have filled our atmosphere with chemicals has impacted nature. We can’t change the cycles, but we can change what we put into the atmosphere.
Individual participation is great, but institutional policies are needed to make a significant impact.
While it may not affect you personally before you die, the legacy for future generations is debilitating.
I don’t have the solution for the UK’s immigration issue. Nor do I have one for what we experience here in the US. What I do know is that laws that allow a government to sell people who have sought refuge in their country to another poor country so they can wash their hands like Pontius Pilate is deplorable.
Imagine what solutions we could come up with if we worked collaboratively instead of shooting verbal spears at one another. It’s possible, but will require honesty rather than well-crafted narratives, tempering facts with compassion, and opening our minds to innovative ways to take care of ourselves while acknowledging our humanity.
I hope I get to see it in my lifetime.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you enjoy The Mosaic Platypus! Sharing stories knowing they have the power to spark memories and nurture healing is a piece of how I do my part in this world - pay my bills, donate to worthy folks in hard situations and honor my role as a link in the chain of evolution.
The capitalistic strategy of subscription levels - you can see “this” if you pay to subscribe, otherwise you only can read “that” felt icky. I want to share this writing in the most inclusive way so all of what I write and do with the podcast-lette is available to everyone regardless of whether you pay.
If you’d like to support what I do, there are opportunities to be a part of it by purchasing a paid subscription to The Mosaic Platypus for only $5/month or making a contribution through Buy Me A Coffee. Have a great weekend!