Over the last 200 years, Britain has systematically invaded, ravaged and destabilised just about every country in the world. We’ve installed brutal dictators, hoovered up natural resources, sold arms, and started wars just to make sure that this great island stays comfortable, healthy and wealthy.
If you enjoy all the perks of living in this country - schools, healthcare, jobs, roads, nice houses, museums, flat whites - then you need to at least acknowledge that this comfort and safety comes from decades and centuries of your country being an absolute bastard.
The middle classes right now, or at least the reactionary readers of the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, would want you to look after your own right now. The refugees escaping Syria and Africa are not our problem.
They are totally our problem. As a society, we’ve sat idly by while our governments have destroyed countries, and fuelled terrorism and civil wars, just so our cost of living can stay low and our standards of living can stay high. We have enough to share. We have enough space, and we have enough money. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and we’re happy to reap the benefits of our global cavorting. Now, when it’s coming back to bite us on the arse, we have to accept full responsibility for it. Donate, petition, protest. Just don’t ignore.