"deep-rooted fear towards
foreigners" (Oxford English Dictionary; OED)
"fear of the unfamiliar"
(Webster's)
I own a few properties. My agent contacted me
about one recently. "I've found a really good tenant, but he won't pass a
credit check."
"Oh?"
"He's foreign."
"Oh, well … ."
"He's every right to live and work here
at the moment. He's EU."
"Okay. So what's the problem?"
"He only has a reference from a foreign
landlord. Our credit-checking agency won't accept that. But I've looked at his bank accounts and this
reference is immaculate."
This makes me wonder whether we've actually
ever really been in the EU. Haven't we always rather only taken on board what
suits us? Trusting another EU landlord obviously doesn't.
Why not? And is xenophobia the answer?
To say someone is xenophobic seems to be accusing
them of being nasty. But any phobia is an involuntary response to something. I'm
personally not at all xenophobic about anything or anyone European – I know
them so well. But I find myself wary of other cultures, even though I try to talk
myself out of it, so can to some extent understand this credit agency.
We have to make an effort, though, don't we?
If we can't cope with other Europeans, who in the end are more like us than
many others, how are we going to secure all these wonderful new deals all over
the world?
Language may well be a factor but the Chinese
don't all speak English, do they? I always feel slightly uneasy in the US –
less so in Canada – because the culture is more different from our own than
we'd believe. This isn't entirely mitigated by the fact that we use a very similar
language.
So what should we do about this xenophobia?
Admit we have it, work to overcome it, think of strangers as friends we've not
met yet and gradually exchange experience. I have vague memories of being that
way with my friends on the mainland a while ago and certainly I taught my students
this process.
It can't hurt, can it, to work on it a bit
that way?
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