Europeans are bluntly voicing that they do not want to live with foreigners and are refusing to allow others to benefit from the prosperity of their countries. Certainly, it is understandable for the West to want to protect its prosperity. It is the basic right of every individual in today’s modern world to ask for prosperity, security and freedom. The problem, however, surfaces when these three demands are limited to a specific group of people and suppressing others’ desire for prosperity, security and freedom become inevitable.
One fundamental reality that modern economics overlooks is that the fortune of any one group was originally found or made by the joint effort and wealth of all other groups. Since everyone is different and has different talents the best way to prevent potential clashes is through justice, rather than equality. Justice foresees delegating tasks according to people’s talents and efforts. But the current world structure is neither just nor equal. Inequality and injustice are the most important rooted causes of clashes. There is a great saying in Turkish that goes “one eats while the other watches and that’s why the world comes to an end.” Certainly, most would concede that we are experiencing a small-scale doomsday. The occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, a deep instability that has covered almost the entire Middle East and frequent crises around the world are all signs that the world is experiencing a quasi-doomsday.
While global injustices are the real causes of clashes, this reality is disguised with different descriptions. It perpetrates the anti-globalization slogan “there is no peace without justice,” yet there is the impression that clashes are between different identities. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen defends that it is wrong to categorize everyone under one identity. Sen highlights that Muslim immigrants in Europe are solely seen as Muslims and therefore are labeled as “foreign,” leading former pluralist countries such as Denmark, Holland, Germany and England to gradually adopt a black-and-white perception model, and this is mere fuel for Samuel Huntington’s fire.
Although the view of a Harvard professor that religions are prisons or ghettos for people is open to much debate -- given that Islam is a religion that encourages reciprocal relations and interaction -- Islamophobia and hostility toward foreigners did not surface in Europe randomly; on the contrary it is closely linked to the clash of civilizations thesis. In many parts of Europe, Muslims are subject to discrimination because of their religious ties. This discrimination manifests in the work force. Muslims either can’t find a job, or struggle to keep the one they have. For nearly a decade Muslims have been unable to integrate into the societies of the countries they live. While often this has been linked to Muslims’ reluctance toward integration policies, questions such as why the obstacles and barriers for Muslims to contribute remain and why mechanisms do not operate effectively have yet to answered.
One of the rooted causes of conflict is that the West does not want to share the world, the fortunes made or found together in the world and the natural resources with anyone else. While refusing to share, it sends soldiers to occupy lands and takes hold of peoples’ natural resources. In a selfish and violent world, our security and hence our prosperity and freedom is under grave threat.
