Open Letter to Barack Hussein Obama

President-elect of the United States of America

By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Former Prime Minister of Malaysia

January 1, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I did not vote for you in the Presidential Election because I am Malaysian.

But I consider myself one of your constituents because what you do or say will affect me and my country as well.

I welcome your promise for change. Certainly your country, the United States of America needs a lot of changes.

That is because America and Americans have become the most hated people in the world. Even Europeans dislike your arrogance. Yet you were once admired and liked because you freed a lot of countries from conquest and subjugation.

It is the custom on New Year’s day for people to make resolutions. You must have listed your good resolutions already. But may I politely suggest that you also resolve to do the following in pursuit of Change.

1) Stop killing people. The United States is too fond of killing people in order to achieve its objectives. You call it war, but today’s wars are not about professional soldiers fighting and killing each other. It is about killing people, ordinary innocent people by the hundreds of thousands. Whole countries will be devastated.

War is primitive, the cavemen’s way of dealing with a problem. Stop your arms build up and your planning for future wars.

2) Stop indiscriminate support of Israeli killers with your money and your weapons. The planes and the bombs killing the people of Gaza are from you.

3) Stop applying sanctions against countries which cannot do the same against you.

In Iraq your sanctions killed 500,000 children through depriving them of medicine and food. Others were born deformed.

What have you achieved with this cruelty? Nothing except the hatred of the victims and right-thinking people.

4) Stop your scientists and researchers from inventing new and more diabolical weapons to kill more people more efficiently.

5) Stop your arms manufacturers from producing them. Stop your sales of arms to the world. It is blood money that you earn. It is un-Christian.

6) Stop trying to democratize all the countries of the world. Democracy may work for the United States but it does not always work for other countries.

Don’t kill people because they are not democratic. Your crusade to democratize countries has killed more people than the authoritarian Governments which you overthrew. And you have not succeeded anyway.

7) Stop the casinos which you call financial institutions. Stop hedge funds, derivatives and currency trading. Stop banks from lending non-existent money by the billions.

Regulate and supervise your banks. Jail the miscreants who made profits from abusing the system.

8 ) Sign the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements.

9) Show respect for the United Nations.

I have many other resolutions for change which I think you should consider and undertake.

But I think you have enough on your plate for this 2009th year of the Christian Era.

If you can do only a few of what I suggest, you will be remembered by the world as a great leader. Then the United States will again be the most admired nation. Your embassies will be able to take down the high fences and razor-wire coils that surround them.

May I wish you a Happy New Year and a great Presidency.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad

(Former Prime Minister of Malaysia )

Indvandrer eller akademiker?

Problemer med mangfoldigheden på det akademiske arbejdsmarked i Danmark

I løbet af de sidste år er der i Danmark som i de fleste andre vestlige lande kommet megen fokus på indvandring og integration, især når det gælder indvandrere fra ikke-vestlige lande. De mange bøger, artikler og rapporter, der bliver skrevet er med til at belyse et område, hvor der givetvis eksisterer nogle samfundsproblemer. Samtidig er det dog ofte med til at sætte en meget heterogen gruppe i én kategori og homogenisere den. Alle i gruppen er “indvandrere”, og behandles derefter på arbejdsmarkedet, i det sociale system og så videre. Det er imidlertid interessant at se på, hvad der sker, når man fokuserer på de akademisk uddannede indvandrere, og prøver at kategorisere dem som “akademikere”. Det viser sig nemlig, at den nationale identitet, der ligger i at blive kategoriseret som “indvandrer” er meget stærk, og overskygger den uddannelsesmæssige identitet, der ligger i at blive kategoriseret som “akademiker”.

Forestillingen om indvandrer på arbejdsmarkedet går som regel ud på, at der er tale om uuddannet, ufaglært arbejdskraft, hvilket altså ikke gælder for gruppen af akademikere.
Debatten har i Danmark været præget af alt for mange holdninger, og alt for lidt baggrundsviden. Det har i mange situationer bidraget til at cementere en forestillet forskel mellem “dem” (indvandrerne) og “os” (akademikerne) på det akademiske arbejdsmarked. Derfor stiller jeg spørgsmålstegn ved hvorvidt der er gode vidensmæssige forudsætninger for at tale om integration af akademisk uddannede indvandrere på det akademiske arbejdsmarked i Danmark. Er der forskel på de akademisk uddannede indvandreres kvalifikationer, alt efter hvor de oprindeligt kommer fra? Er der tale om et særligt problem, alt efter hvorvidt de har opnået deres uddannelse i Danmark eller i udlandet? Afhænger deres jobmuligheder på det akademiske arbejdsmarked af, hvor de kommer fra? Og endelig ser jeg på årsagerne til, at akademisk uddannede indvandrere åbenbart ikke har samme adgang til det akademiske arbejdsmarked i Danmark som deres kolleger med dansk baggrund.
Ved at forsøge at vende begreberne lidt på hovedet er det mit håb at bidrage til en debat, der baseres på viden, ikke kun på holdninger. Dermed kan det være, at det næste gang bliver lidt lettere at se igennem de socialt konstruerede forskelle, ind til kvalifikationerne.

Geografisk Institut 2002, 100 s. (speciale) Geographica Hafniensia C13

Bogomtale fra forlaget:

http://www.nyt-om-arbejdsliv.dk/2omtale.aspx?itemID=137