‘Expat’ now a dirty word?
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| The word expat is a dirty word. There are only travelers in the vast expanse. Unfortunately, we live in a world of borders and nations, so if we are going to assign a term for those living within these boundaries, let us call them locals. This way there will be no divide. Because we are so good at dividing, and we come up with millions of excuses to justify our behavior. This is not just about Kuwait, but regarding countries all around the world. All over the globe, locals and expats, those who are entitled and minorities, the rich and the poor, and so on and so forth ad infinitum. When will our hearts break so we can finally see? When we are close to a world war, when natural disasters threaten our existence? What will it take for us to awaken from this stupor of separation? |
It is time. This is the shift. Technology has brought us so close to one another. We can travel. And we rave about our visits to other countries. Yet only as long as the nationals of the countries we visit stay in their countries, we feel safe. Because we do not want to share our resources with anyone. We are entitled to it. My question is: Who put it there? Have we ever wondered?
It is this greed we have that has sent our men and women to war. It is this greed that has forced us to create institutions to protect ourselves. From what? From lions? No, from other human beings. We build walls, we utilize passwords, we wear longer clothing, we keep secrets: all to protect ourselves from human beings. From a young age, we are taught that we belong to one nation, one ideology, one way, our way. And we wonder why the world is filled with so much violence. We are so misaligned with our essence. And this is why we use dirty words such as expats, minorities, and all the other derogatory terms to label those we consider beneath us. We hide behind our beliefs, because it is the strongest defender of our very own prejudices.
Time to awaken. Time to ascend.
By Nejoud Al-Yagout
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