Pope Francis v/s US Media and Politics
Unfortunately for the pontiff, the headline-grabbing US media has dragged the pope into the US election process. The pope was addressing the general principle of "building walls instead of bridges" within a Christian context. In spirit, the message was not different from President Reagan's comment about the Berlin Wall. The pope told young Mexicans on his visit to their country, that (paraphrasing) when they grew up, Jesus did not want them to be employed as hit men, however lucrative the employment in the drug cartel may be. He also admonished the Mexican elite, including the Catholic priests and prelates, not to lord it over the poor. The pope's message about the Wall was NOT ADDRESSED to Donald Trump, but directed to ALL politicians, media and others who think that a Mexico-US Wall is the solution to illegal immigration. The pope is not / should not be hesitant to bring Christ's message to the powerful and the lowly all across the world. The pope's message regarding the wall was most likely deliberately OVER-LOOKED by the Main Street media, seeking instead to create controversy and headlines. The pope was suggesting America may be better off building bridges to Mexico and four Central American countries that account for 60 percent of illegal immigrants to the USA. The other 40 percent reportedly arrive by air. Building bridges would mean improving conditions in these countries that encourage the people to be safe and employed in their own country of birth. It is a fact that a major reason for the socioeconomic dislocation south of the border is the massive exports of US agricultural products, such as corn, displacing native farm labor. Tragically, conditions in the Mid-East (Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya) and Near-East (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan) over the last fifteen years have forced America to neglect its own backyard, permitting drug trafficking and smuggling, violent gangs, corruption, political and military exploitation and crumbling infrastructure, resulting in a lack of progress in basic education, healthcare and equitable socio-economic conditions. Improving these conditions is also likely to have a major impact on our illegal immigration, drug trafficking and boost our economy by stimulating our export of goods, technology and services right within the American continent to a huge consumer market without the cost of shipping across the world. Regards, GL
