Justin's Berlin Trip

I've really enjoyed reading many of the pieces we've worked with over the last few weeks, and I wish we had more time to do close readings of them and really talk as a group about the points that are being made in them.  It feels a lot like we're just skimming through these really well in-depth topics, but I guess they'll be more time for that as the quarter goes on. To me, one of the most interesting topics we've read would have to be the history of migration.  I believe it was the week 3 reading which went into it the most (age of migration chapter 10?) but most of the readings have at least touched on it.  I always forget how much I like history until suddenly I'm two hours into reading Wikipedia articles and it's midnight and I don't remember how I got here.  The way migration is affected by so many different factors we have yet to fully understand is definitely something I would like to read more about.  Specifically the different theories and sch...

I took an English class summer quarter that was based around seeing different cultures through their short stories.  Some of the authors had immigrated from and to different places, and lot of the readings this week vividly reminded me of that class.  You begin reading pieces of literature written in different cultural settings and you expect, on some level, that what you're going to read is going to be somehow alien, and focus on the differences that culture has from your own.  But, of course, that isn't really what happens.  As one of the readings put it, immigrant literature isn't its own separate, uniform genre. This isn't really so much of a discussion point as much as just a thought, but I would love to write a full story in another language, if only for the experience of it.  A few weeks ago I wrote for a homework assignment probably the first more-than-three sentence fictional story in Arabic I've ever done, and it was more fun than it probably should ...

It's interesting how countries with a history of colonialism have historically been more welcoming to refugees, though clearly this is not always the case as time progresses.  Are there other countries that have been historically welcoming to refugees which were not colonial powers (US, England) or have colonial history (US, Australia, Canada) The realities of discriminatory immigration policy seem so obvious; people are going to migrate either way and either you offer them a path to citizenship or you marginalize them and force them to isolate themselves from the rest of the country's society, to the determent of everyone.  Even from a purely fiscal view, you clearly end up with illegal immigrants working for cash, not income paying taxes, and a much higher risk for them to be exploited for their labor either through wages under the minimum, or unsafe conditions.  As popular as limiting immigration can be in some places, it's sad that politicians choose these policies...

1.  The book mentions a doubling in the number of documented refugees between 1965 and 2010.  During this time population also approximately doubled, but the number of undocumented immigrants increased by a larger proportion.  Is this a result of stricter policy?  Or another factor? 2.  The west gladly accepted Warsaw Pact immigrants before 1992 in an attempt to sap the Soviet bloc of manpower.  After 1992, how quickly did this attitude change and what was the given justification for it? 3.  What does the future of migration look like?  Do the upcoming economies have the same pro-immigrant sentiments in their nation-building myth?  China in particular seems a likely candidate to see massive migration in the future because of its location and geographic features.

My name is Justin Miller and I am a working towards a bachelors degree in economics at UW.  I received an Associates degree from Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington while working at a local drug store, where I worked in both the photography department and in a receiving/bookkeeping position for over five years.  I have a background in many kinds of community service and was an active member of Boy Scouts growing up.  My personal interests include language (I speak basic Arabic), music (I play a couple instruments and teach guitar), and auto-mechanics.  As far as career interests, after I graduate I would love to work in position writing marcoeconomic analysis articles for newspapers, magazines, or radio.

When I first think about my personal lens, I see first that it is made up of some very typical, privileged kind of things:  White, male, outwardly heteronormative, American, etc.  These are traits I try to be aware of both in my own view outward, and as others view me. Though certainly I don't always succeed in this goal.  One part of my lens that affects how I view myself, and one that I think will be challenged by the trip this summer, is that of class. I have always viewed myself as solidly lower middle-class, or lower, especially growing up.  Even in times of my life where this was objectively not the case, I still had the inward view that I was a poor person who happened to have money for now.  Thrift is something that was instilled in me growing up, and no matter how well I'm doing I still feel that pressure to budget and save and cut coupons. This is, of course, all... *ahem* garbage when compared to a migrant or refugee who has lost near everything, ...