"If you don't like this country..."

 


Originally Answered: What do you think of the people who say, “If you don’t like this country, leave!”? Is there a certain level of inherent ignorance in such a statement?


From Lakshmi Ramachandran on Quora, 2 years ago: "It is a stupid statement that has become all too common now. It is so stupid that it is impossible to reply to the statement unless you want to say something stupid too.

"The statement is a refusal to engage with the other party, and a refusal to engage with the issue at hand.

"It is talking down to someone, treating them as someone who does not belong to the group.

"It comes from a place where you happen to be securely established in a space, and the other person is vulnerable.

It’s a refusal to acknowledge the other person’s humanity. It’s also removed from reality, because one can leave somebody’s house, a workplace, a playground, but one cannot simply pack up and leave a country. It’s an absurd suggestion. Because it is absurd, it is hard to counter the statement with anything sensible. At the same time, the statement is hard hitting, because it dismisses the other party completely, and serves an ultimatum (which they have no right to serve, and which is impractical). It is a grand gesture meant to belittle, meant to close a discussion they do not want to take up. It is a statement from people who are satisfied with what they have got, to a people who are dissatisfied in some way. It is arrogant, childish, and pettish. Because there is no sensible answer one can give to the statement, it gives the person a sense of triumph, that they have effectively put the other person in place."

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