Dining Across the Divide: A Encounter Between Different Viewpoints
Meeting the Participants
First Diner: P., 34, London
Profession Former government employee, currently a learner focusing on community health
Voting record Voted Green recently (also a affiliate of the party); previously Labour. Identifies as “progressive, and globalist rather than patriotic”
Amuse bouche A drawing of a tea cup he created as a kid was once displayed in the Irish National Gallery
Other Participant: Akshat, 43, Harrow
Profession Risk analyst in the construction sector
Voting record Hailing from India, Akshat has resided in the United Kingdom for five years, and supported the Conservative Party. Identifies as “slightly moderate right”
Amuse bouche He self-learned to understand the Urdu language. “It has no practical use for me, I simply found it intriguing”
For starters
Akshat Over the last two decades, I’ve lived and worked in the Middle East, East Asia, the United States. The issues we talked about are UK-centric, but they are also global, because human life more or less follows the same curve across the world. I was expecting a staunch liberal, but Peter wasn’t all gung ho – we engaged in a good, rational discussion. I drank beer, he opted for mojitos.
Peter We shared appetizers – seafood rolls, dumplings, daikon cakes with beansprouts, which were excellent. I was a little nervous, as I think he was too. Would he criticize me for being a snowflake? We’re both immigrants. My childhood was in Dublin; I’ve lived in the US and Spain. We bonded over our affection for London.
The big beef
Akshat I look at immigration similar to adding salt to a meal. With a small amount, the dish is delicious. Use too little or too much and the dish is either too bland or too salty.
Peter He had a metaphor regarding salt. It would be odd to be if the government was selecting some preferred demographic of the nation.
Akshat There are, sadly, people fleeing persecution, but a lot of migrants arriving in the UK are those seeking better finances who do not necessarily add significant value and can weigh on the benefit system. Nobody forces you to go to a different nation for prospects, so you ought to relocate if you can take care of your own needs and your family.
The second participant We became confused with certain details. I don’t think it’s like you arrive and are employed and then following a half-decade you get permanent citizenship. Nothing is automatic. It’s been a hostile environment for some time, application costs are quite expensive, you pay an NHS surcharge, access to benefits is limited. There is no special treatment for anybody. And regarding the recent changes, whereby family reunification is restricted, it’s incredible to say: we want your work, but we reject you as a person. I think we have to have a certain level of humanity.
Common ground
Akshat Peter questions unregulated markets. So am I, but at the same time, wealth creation helps communities and should be encouraged.
The second participant We’re both internationalist. And we concurred that certain elements of the community – politics, the media – thrive off creating conflict. We discovered shared understanding in fundamentals and ethics.
For afters
The first participant Peter believes that since the United Kingdom benefitted from colonial times, it ought to provide compensation to affected nations. I simply think: you cannot judge the past with contemporary ethics; times are different, modern people were not responsible of events decades or a century ago. Let’s say the Britain had to compensate India, it would be a significant sum of funds. Is the UK in a position to manage that? Certainly not.
The second participant Until recently, I don’t think there was much reckoning with colonial history. For example, when I first moved to the UK, people weren’t aware of the Irish famine and the part that colonialism played in it. My view is decolonisation isn’t just about issuing payments, it ought to involve looking at past errors and our current responsibilities.
Takeaways
The first participant It won’t change the way I think, but I understand his worries. I talk to individuals regularly whose views are opposite to mine. The goal is bringing everyone to the common understanding, in order that everyone can work towards the betterment of the community.
The second participant We remained for two and a half hours. Akshat had dessert and I drank some sweet Japanese wine. I did not convince him of anything, but we both enjoyed the meal, so we could hopefully be more receptive to engaging in dialogues with others in the coming times.
