The Immigrant Invasion Of Europe, The 4th “Peaceful” Punic War?

The Immigrants arrive in waves. Too many die on the way. The Phoenicians had better craft for their invasions. The Punic Wars were fought between Italy(Rome) and Northern Africa(Carthage) between 264 and 146 BCE. Rome won a crushing victory in the third Punic war, but a more or less peaceful invasion from Africa has started anew. Italy and Europe are nearly defenseless against this new invasion. There is an enormous continent to the south bursting with suffering that makes the risk of this short sea crossing seem minor in comparison. What to do with this endless tide of foreign arrival the size of which threatens immediate infrastructure, and generates general fear for crime, and work loss to come. It is enough to inflame xenophobia throughout the European continent and challenge the most well-meaning politicians. Nobody has the answer, clearly we need to work together to find collective answers, both on the European continent and in Africa.

What a challenge; where to start? Compassion, work at the source of problem, problem solve one step at a time, together. It is easy to write, easy to imagine possible movement towards solutions while those waves keep arriving. I read once that enlightenment comes when the wave realises that it is part, that it is, the ocean. None of us can separate ourselves from these problems for long, we can feel, and fear, that the problems can be coming for us as well, so back to compassion and working at the source of this current problem.

What is driving people from their homelands in Africa? I do not have the answer. I am quite sure that there is not one single answer to that question. But I do think that we must collectively ask the question and work towards answers and solutions. And meanwhile those waves keep crashing on the shores of Lampedusa and other frontier islands in the Mediterranean. Pay attention to the politics and the politicians. Avoid the xenophobes and the violent speech and acts. Compassion, humanity and awareness that this is a shared problem. It is therefore important to look for solutions that can be shared.

Nearly all of the current problems in the world are interlinked. And so the solutions, and those that solve them, need to be as well. A recent article that outlines this well in Politico is worth a read. Take a look at Meloni’s plans for a Queen’s Gambit. I am not promoting her politics, but I do think that a systemic outlook for our current problems is necessary.

My profession is learning, my own and that of others. Much of my time has been spent in the minority countries of the more privileged. More recently I am spending time in the Majority countries of the less privileged. When in the Ivory Coast, when in Sierra Leone it is easy to witness a wealth that is frustrated: that goes into the hands of a few, too often outside the country for natural resources, and too seldom outside the country for cultural and historical wealth. As an educator I know that the historical and cultural wealth has much to give to those in the minority world. If the wealth of the natural resources could return more evenly to the citizens, perhaps we could slow, and eventually end this fourth Punic Invasion.