Immigrants

Most civilized countries that enjoy some kind of participatory government have to deal with terrorism: from without and within.

In Norway, it appears to be from at least one person who believed that immigrants from the Middle East were destroying the Norwegian way of life.

I remember being in Norway twice and both times were extraordinary. Both times, I remember hearing concerns about the flood of immigrants whose final destination was Norway. One only had to look on a map to understand one could really not move further north. So Norway became a destination. It was so because there was a wonderful standard of living, exhaustive social services, a small population, and democracy.

Every western nation or those identified as "western" appears to face the same issues related to immigrants and for the same reasons. However, depending on the nation the "face" of the immigrants change. Their national origin may blur but the reasons for immigrating is generally economic and desperation. People really do yearn to be free and safe. For all its struggles "the West" has both large margins of safety and freedom.

And so they come. As long as the economies are decent and freedom is widespread in a world in which most live in poverty and without safety.

Perhaps the way to stop the flood of immigrants is to invest more in assisting their countries of origin to feed their populations in societies that are free and safe.