Civilization's most basic cultural problem is what to do to and with a foreigner. What gives birth to the foreigner problem is the residual value history. The accumulation and circulation history of the residual-value continues by deepening its seismic effect. Thus, human societies won't be able to stay stationary any longer; due to this or that reason, they will change places by means of being dragged, hustled or through voluntary decisions.
Their encounters with the foreigners are temporary and limited, but it's not the problem; generally, it doesn't force the tolerance gaps and it will be softened mutually. On the other hand, if those encounters and the relations built around it are based on “mutual benefits”, then the problems will be experienced on a minimal level. If those problems are causing permanent effects, whose limits and results are unknown and which damages settled interests, then the outcome will change rapidly.
In the traditional world, locality, in other words, the living pattern of every community, which is closed to the foreigners, was dominant. The situations, where the foreigners manifested themselves, was concentrated on the world's trade centers. This was interpreted as a blessing since it provided the circulation of residue value, in other words, the goods and service flow; and in the cases, where the control over the settled authority was ensured, it wasn't regarded as a problem. Marginal travelers and pilgrims were also being respected. As for the catastrophic situations; they were the scarcities that disrupted the life routines of nomad communities and aggressive migrations. These are quite destructive processes that put the foreigners and nomads against each other. Mostly, this was what caused results, which takes a long time to simmer down and be synthesized, and turn into new complicated cultural hybridizations.
In the modern world, demographic routines were changed completely and they were rendered suitable to the logic and functioning of the capitalist world work-sharing. According to this, locality has been liquidated in the communities that formed the origin or the center of the accumulation. Local populations were ripped from their cultural roots, and piled up in cities where everyone is “foreign” to each other. The Industrial Revolution is nothing other than the blending of rootless middle-classes and the laborer class, who are rendered rootless.
In a world where everyone was foreign to each other, it was extremely difficult to establish industry discipline. Thus, the feeling of individualization and personal interest were praised in cultural, political and economic levels and promoted. On the other hand, as it had been revealed in the works of historians like Elias and Foucault, masses were restrained around tamed values. Essentially, the modern civilization consists of cultural processes, where the strategies and tactics of coming to the fore with the foreigners were organized.
As for the half-center and boundary world, which is identified as proletarian new nations; it experienced the same process defectively. The defective accumulation processes fits the workforce's work-sharing logic. According to this, the workforce is being differentiated as “active” and “substitute” in the axis of keeping the costs low. This differentiation is valid in the basic market mentality and also globally. According to this, in the half-center and perimeter world, which is experiencing the defective accumulation process, workforce mobilization is being compressed. This compression is not unconditional. It's only kept under control. Gathering a qualified workforce was not impeded; and limited passing was allowed.
Compression processes were provided with cultural support. At this point, the central capitalist world purifies itself culturally and identifies itself as pure, clean and a perfect humanity. This purity is also defended jealously against any type of foreign cultural effects. Similar to the orientalism example; cultural worlds outside the center are either directly humiliated or alienated by means of praising over exoticism.
What's illogical in this display is the compression of labor while unlimited circulation possibilities were provided to the capital. While no obstacles were experienced in financial processes; the borders, passports and visas, which repressed the circulation of people, are implementations where this contradiction can be observed clearly. Humanity is being vaporized even further with each process. Not to mention that the values like humanity, equality and justice, which are being presented by the sterile central world universally, also came to naught… What's sad is, these compressions are becoming normal in the minds as an understandable and simple necessity of the modern world.
These are the realities in the background of what's happening to Syrian immigrants. Children did not die for the first time. However, the first photo that documented this was slapped in the face of the world public opinion for the first time. Let's not forget; the photo will document the world; however, it cannot change anything on its own. It will be forgotten in time as its being circulated in the social communication networks with sighs. The fate of the Syrian immigrants will be designated by the central world's capacity to consume the substitute workforce. I'm sure that rational bureaucracy is busy planning for this behind closed doors. The skill is to transform the relations, which we've drawn the brief frame above. The objectivity of this is not changing with cries; it's only calming down the consciences. However, the essential problem is to recognize how the cultural variety of humanity has been twisted in the history of the residue.
