Ex-patriots – or – Greedy Bastards
Expatriates (see, I do know the right spelling) are people temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country, motherland).
Now, there are many reasons to leave your home country. War, famine, oppression, love – these are all good and valid reasons to move away from something that perhaps you have no control over (or in the case of love, a valid reason to move to a new country). However, in recent times, the tendancy has been for the British to move away, not for legal or ethical reasons, but to enjoy better weather and lower cost of living.
I have no problem with people moving to a new country for any reason. What gets my goat though is people who expect to be able to have their cake and eat it too. Today’s Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 included a wonderful call from a lady who had willingly chosen to leave old Blighty and move to the warmer climes of the South of France (or Spain – whatever), yet was immensely put out that this left her unable to benefit from the best savings deals at her particular English banking establishment. For once Jeremy agreed with my views on the subject – and in not so many words told her to quit whining – there’s pros and cons to every decision to move, and oh dear, this was a con.
The other side of the coin of course is the asylum seekers and foreign immigrants who leave their home countries for slightly more pressing reasons – political oppression, famine, war, poverty etc. – and yet expect to be able to continue living by the laws of the country they left behind. This is no more acceptable than Mrs Jones expecting all the benefits of English banking when in France, and should be seen as just as ridiculous.
For some reason though, the opposite has taken place. Despite leaving their homelands for the freedom and equality of the British Empire (all 3 islands of it), Muslims moving to this country seem determined to maintain the laws – that would be lack of freedoms – from their homelands. In fact, Sharia law has now been adopted by the UK.
You know what – I have a theory: This isn’t immigration or asylum seeking – it’s just a very slow invasion!
Okay – that’s a bit extreme… but what else do you call it when a large number of people move into a country and start changing the laws and culture to suit themselves?
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