A conversation, unfortunately based on a true story, in my hometown in the south of Germany. My conversation partner had once described me as a »do-gooder« years ago, and I was surprised that this expression was used as an insult.
»What do you say to the people in West Africa when they want to head off to Europe?«
Me: »Hmm … That’s a difficult question and would certainly be dependent on whom I’d meet there.«
»Yeah, so these economic refugees … We can’t take them all in.«
Before I go into this subject, I would like to have at least mentioned the other possible reasons such as poverty, hunger, or war, which gets me this response:
»You also earn your money from the suffering of other people.«
Me: » … ? Yeah, I mean … from a certain perspective … you could see it that way … cucula an economic integration model … I would also call it controversial … But wait, did you mean that as a suggestion or was it meant scathingly?«
»I leave that up to your interpretation.«
Me: »Ow!«
»People are helped so often – you should help them help themselves in the process …«
Me: »Yeah, I think so too. But I’m confused … Could you please specifically apply that to my work?«
»No, I don’t even know what exactly you do there.«
Me: »You’re making a judgment then, without knowing the situation?«
»Let me explain again: They’ve been receiving money from us for years and haven’t managed to do anything. You have to ask yourself, whether it has something to do with their intelligence or genes.«
