I don’t expect too many of you to understand what I write here, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. Fear of boat people has a foundation…but the foundation is false. The underbelly of the fear isn’t real; it has no authenticity. Minorities are only seen as such when they are perceived to be a threat; either real or imagined. And that’s where fear comes into play. When minorities are seen to be threatening, that creates fear. And when they are highly visible, then the fear is exponential. That is why boat people are always under attack; because people fear them; it’s irrational fear without foundation but it’s a feeling that is hard to explain. Fear is being used to manipulate society. Politicians use fear to win our vote. The fear of being attacked, the fear that terrorists are planning to repeat another 9/11, the fear of a nuclear war; the fear that some middle-eastern country objects to the way we live our lives and represents some threat to us. Currently the fear that some environmentally conscious political party will destroy our way of life, is fermenting a generation of irrational fear mongers. Fear of boat people is utterly irrational and we know it. So we hide behind the veneer of queue jumping or population swell. When we face our fears, challenge them to prove their validity, they fail; they evaporate. More of us should try it. So, the boats keep coming. Well, so what? In what way has that affected your life? How has it harmed you? What damage has it done to you? And please, do not kid me that you are concerned about the cost, or that others will have to wait longer, or that they are illegal (actually they are not). Such superficial concerns would flatter us both and make the argument look more pathetic than it does now.