To this day my father remains the hardest working person I know. He always worked two jobs, became a successful engineer and I recall watching him take part in publicity photos in the 1990s as the first non-white retained fireman in Wales, which he went on to do for 25 years.
He is by any measure a credit to his community and can easily be held up as a model for "integration." However, he is just one person. I sometimes wonder how different things might have been if there had been even one or two other Iranian families living on our street.
My father was born more than 3,700 miles from where I was born. By the age of three I'd already lived in four different countries. I grew up in a small town in Wales. By the time I was 15, I couldn't wait to move to London. I'm writing this column in a hotel room in Japan. When it is finished I'll send it to my editor in Australia and by the time you read it I'll likely be back home in London. As an internationally minded academic, I have what Talcott Parsons called an "achieved identity" based on education and career success.
Comment: The anti-smoking lobby have succeeded in the demonisation of smokers and now any creature can use their bidding as excuse to express their abhorrent nature:
- Anti-smoking campaigns aren't new: The Nazis' forgotten drive to eliminate tobacco from the Reich
- UK councils conspire to ban tenants from smoking in their homes
- UK hospital asks snitches to trigger anti-smoking alarm if people smoke outside
- Plans in motion to ban smoking on the streets of Rotterdam, Netherlands
As if often the case in our twisted reality, contrary to the propaganda, smoking tobacco has numerous important benefits:- A comprehensive review of the many health benefits of smoking Tobacco
- Nicotine - The Zombie Antidote
- Pestilence, the Great Plague and the Tobacco Cure
Also check out SOTT radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: The Truth about Tobacco and the Benefits of Nicotine