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As I was preparing for this newsletter, I was studying a lot the history of Cosmopolitanism and I would like to connect this four-generation history with my current situation right now, in an attempt to show that what Tagore and his friends have started is the philosophy that I take my values from. As for me, I am working for a global partner company of Microsoft as an international software consultant in Montreal after spending two and half adventurous years in Colombia as an English teacher. The other side of me is that I am fighting together with a lawyer for the immigration of my Colombian wife and I am probably facing a one-year waiting period until I can welcome her in Canada. In the global partner company of Microsoft, I can see Cosmopolitanism in action. I am dealing exclusively with international clients, a lot of new technology is bringing us together like in a global village, and my six teammates are from six different cultural backgrounds. Only your skills and your commitment for our software matter and as an employee, everyone is treated with the same humanistic values regardless where he or she is located on our lovely planet. I have known for a long time and I have gotten reassured during every coffee hour and also during my extensive travels in many parts of the world that “Humanity” is the same all over. One has to deal with foreign languages and new experiences but one can be sure to be welcome in every culture when one approaches it with a Cosmopolitan heart. On the other hand when dealing with Immigration Canada I can only see the “Nation” and not it's “Humanity.” I am dealing with a bureaucratic apparatus, which only cares about the interests of the nation Canada and not so much about the interests of the world. As a citizen of Canada, I feel blessed with the freedom I have here, my economic status, and my educational opportunities. I have acquired this right by birth but I question if this is fair. I believe everyone on this planet should have the same right, if not in their home countries, then in the countries of the people’s choice. I don't believe that it is in a nation’s best interest to try to preserve its economy only to its own citizens. Globally oriented companies like the one described above have fared well through the whole economic crisis and keep on hiring the smartest people in the world. Immigrants are the smartest people of their home countries because of the many adversities they have mastered in order to fulfill their dreams. Immigrants don’t take away American jobs, they create new ones due to many cultural factors and a strong will to succeed. And also to the many American and Canadian citizens who unfortunately lost their job, one can increase the chances for finding a better job several-fold with an international and cosmopolitan orientation. Based on the visionaries of Cosmopolitanism the concept of a “Nation” should have already long been abolished. The slogan “Above all Nations is Humanity” says it clearly: cosmopolitanism is about the people of the world and not about diplomatic relationships or immigration policies. Nationalistic ideologies have brought to mankind probably the worst imaginable ways of suffering. I believe it is time that both North American countries open their borders for all people who serve humanity, even if they only want to support their families back home. What makes North American countries so enjoyable is that therein live so many people from all over the world, and there could be more. There should be not a wall between the North and the South like the one in construction between the US and Mexico. This makes no sense to me and that is why I need to fight Immigration Canada in order to live together with my wife sooner. Felix Autenrieth was a Cosmo resident from 2002 through 2006 and is currently a software consultant at ATRION International, Montreal. |