“For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.” ― Thomas More, Utopia
This provocative statement by Sir Thomas More challenges a society where class distinction is perpetuated to the point where people are oppressed and disadvantaged and then penalised for their circumstances.
As I look upon the current immigration policy in Australia, More's conclusion seems to be very apt for the plight of asylum seekers today...
For if you subject a people to armed conflict and economic sanctions, and then punish them for fleeing from the circumstances that your political agenda has caused, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make refugees and then punish them for seeking asylum.
A profound and disturbing conclusion!
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