The Night Sky is Beautiful

I went out tonight to smoke my pipe and ended up staring at Mars for a bit. Ever since I was a child I've loved the night sky, loved the vast expanses of space. It makes one feel so insignificant at the same time it makes one feel so special.

Despite all the problems of this planet, I still have hope. I suppose part of that hope stems from the fact that I believe that all men are truly good, but it also stems from the NEED to believe in something better, the NEED to have that hope. Without that hope I'm nothing but a broken man, but with that, I will conquer mountains.

As I've been putting together this idea for my div3, I've been trying to get at the heart of what I believe. I suppose that's a life long quest, but having to work out an articulation of this division 3 has helped me in more ways than one. It's also given me something that, at this point, I would love to dedicate my life towards.

Here's the div3, sans corrections yet to be put forth to me by my committee:

The Ethical Obligations of States to Non-Citizens

A Division Three in Three Parts

I. Ethical Obligations of States to Integrate Non-Citizens into National Populations

II. Case Study: Britain After July 7^th, 2005 – the Failure of Racial Integration in the U.K. and the Future of Integration

III. Making a Case for International Law: Using the British Example and E.U. Law as a Starting Point for Global Application of Integration

What obligations do nations have towards non-citizens in their nations? That is, what responsibility does a government bear to integrate, not assimilate, immigrant or minority populations which lack full citizenship into the larger polity? Are there ethical obligations that a government must fulfill, both to its citizens and non-citizens within its territory, in terms of integrating minority populations into the majority, or should the considerations which motivate states to integrate non-citizen or immigrant populations be purely practical ones? Should integration be approached from a humanitarian standpoint? Should states work towards healthfully integrating minority populations into the polity as a whole because a state has a duty to do so? Or should states merely consider the potential conflict that could arise from segregation or discrimination in enacting integration policies?

In order to more fully investigate these questions, I intend to examine the current dialogue in Britain regarding racial segregation and integration. The ongoing debate in Britain has been highlighted since the London bombings of July 7^th, 2005. Since that date, the issue of integration has been moved to the forefront in public discussion. The recent comments by Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, warning that Britain might be ‘sleepwalking to segregation’ have prompted members of the British government to begin to draw up plans to address the increasing lack of integration in British society. Charles Clarke, Britain’s Home Secretary, has set forth proposals to develop a new advisory committee to investigate the extent of racial divisions and put forth solutions on how to correct the problem. To what extent are the current proposals by the British government motivated by humanitarian concerns, or are these plans being motivated by practical politics only?

Using the British attempts to correct the lack of integration, as well as current attempts in the European Union as a whole to address the issues of racial segregation and discrimination, I intend to assert that there are ethical obligations that states have towards non-citizens within their borders, and I intend to use the British and EU approach as either a model for integration worldwide or as an example of what approaches to integration are faulty. Not only should all states work to integrate minority populations into their polity for practical reasons, all democratic states have an ethical obligation to do so.