Migration lessons from the soccer pitch



By Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich, a German-born economist. Germans have always fitted in well when they come to Australia. I've known many of them -- JR

After Germany had convincingly demolished the Socceroos at the World Cup, I was not sure what to expect in the office, with me being German and all that. Quips about Per Mertesacker’s hand-ball in the German penalty box? Discussions about the harsh red card for Tim Cahill? Speculations that the new Adidas ball gave the Germans an unfair advantage?

As it turned out, I got none of that. Australians, or at least my dear colleagues, are far too nice for such unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead, they congratulated me on the German win. ‘You must be so happy,’ one of them said.

Well, actually, I wasn’t. My preferred result had been a draw as I feel an emotional attachment to both my native country and my new home. When the national anthems were played before the match, it was Advance Australia Fair that gave me goose bumps, not the German anthem. Although it’s quite a challenge to feel patriotic for any country at 4.30 am.

The match made me realise how easy it is to develop an emotional bond with Australia.

Perhaps it is even stronger for migrants like me than for the natives. When CIS received a Socceroos’ fan scarf as a promotional gift this week, I quickly volunteered to hang it up in my office. Nobody else had wanted it. Possibly that was a reaction to the 4-0 defeat, or maybe they just didn’t care about soccer?

Maybe there is a lesson in this for our current discussion about migration and population growth.

Many commentators assume that Australia’s character will change beyond recognition as more and more people arrive on these shores. They seem to believe implicitly that there is not much about Australia these migrants could love.

My own experience points to the very opposite. Australia is such a friendly, fascinating country that its emotional appeal to new arrivals couldn’t be greater. It’s a country you want to call home even before the ink on your visa has dried.

The social result of migration could be counter-intuitive: it may very well strengthen Australian patriotism, not undermine it. It may reinforce social cohesion, not destroy it.

The key to such integration are not strict limits on the number of migrants but finding the right migrants: migrants who not only bring their skills to this country but are also willing to become a part of it. This aspect is often missing in our population debate, which almost exclusively focuses on the number of migrants.

As for myself, I’ll try my best to become more Australian. Supporting the Socceroos is a start, but please allow me a few decades to understand cricket.

The above is a press release from the Centre for Independent Studies, dated 18 June. Enquiries to cis@cis.org.au. Snail mail: PO Box 92, St Leonards, NSW, Australia 1590.

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here

3 comments:

  1. Of course we're nice to the Germans afterwards, I mean it is just soccer so it's easy to be generous. Germans don't play the important stuff like rugby or cricket.

    As Dad's Army put it:

    Pike: Mr Mainwaring, do the Germans play cricket?

    Mainwaring: You stupid boy. If they played cricket we wouldn't be at war with them.

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  2. " ... finding the right migrants: migrants who not only bring their skills to this country but are also willing to become a part of it. This aspect is often missing in our population debate, which almost exclusively focuses on the number of migrants. .. "

    After World War II, Australia encouraged immigration from places like Italy and Greece, and as far as I can see, Italians and Greeks make good immigrants because they like to work and they like to fit in. Germans would fit that category as well. I realise that's a generalisation, but I think most people would agree.

    However, in the last thirty or so years, it is almost as if we have trawled the shitholes of the world to identify the people, and the cultures, least likely to fit in, and encouraged them to come here, rather than encouraging people who we know will contribute to our society.

    The political elites like to tell us it's for our benefit, but who benefits when their society is trashed? It might make a few lefty politicians and sypathisers feel good as they lie in their warm beds at night, but the rest of us have to live with the reality.

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  3. "The key to such integration are not strict limits on the number of migrants but finding the right migrants"

    And that is the key.

    "Italians and Greeks make good immigrants because they like to work and they like to fit in. Germans would fit that category as well."

    Which is probably why labor is not all that happy with them Phil. Hard working, decent people aren't of much use when your ultimate goal is screwing over society.

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