Musings & Threads. Current Events. A Parable.

Hospitals and Ambulances

A Parable.

Once upon a time there was a quaint European village and next to the village was a beautiful river.  One day the villagers discovered people floating downstream, people who had fallen in the river.  Some died and all needed medical care.  Each day there were more and more people floating down that river in need of medical care.  So the villagers built hospitals and bought ambulances to rescue them.  They trained volunteers and eventually, at great cost to the village, they were able to save most of the people in the water.  But no one in the village went upstream to discover the broken bridge that caused the tragedy.

This parable is well known to any corporation who has engaged in change management.  But it applies to so many things that we do and now it especially applies to the separation of family crisis. Kind and caring people are looking to build hospitals and ambulances to take care of the bodies in the river, and as long as they do, it prevents them from discovering the bridge that is broken, our immigration system.

Through an accident of birth we are able to live in a bountiful country with resources, jobs and a stable government that is, for the most part, honest.  These people do not share our good fortune.  Let me tell you my bias. I find the Hispanic, undocumented workers to be some of the hardest working people, some of the kindest people and some of the most generous people that I have ever met.  I welcome them, but I know that deep down we all share a fear, a fear that a mass crush of immigrants will strain our large, but limited resources.

But as long as we build the hospitals, it keeps us from fixing the bridge.