Month: October 2015

Recently in Rome, I wandered through what could have been a romantic piazza. The twilight sky was perfect…for sales. Guys from Africa launched their plastic florescent whirlybirds high into the sky. Then my attention was hijacked by the splat of a plastic goop doll hitting a board at my feet. The round creature became a flat mess, and then slowly, creepily reconstituted itself — ready for another brutal slam.

There were souvenir hustlers everywhere I looked. Each year, there’s a silly new street-trinket hit sold all over town. Cheap little tripods have long been popular, but now the street hustlers have shifted their focus to selfie sticks. And what about those little 2-D puppets that “magically” dance next to a boom box on big-city sidewalks?

These crazy gimmicks (which somehow keep illegal African immigrants from starving) make me wish I had bought all the goofy things people have sold on the streets of Rome over the years — from the flaming Manneken-Pis cigarette lighters to the five-foot-tall inflatable bouncing cigars to the twin magnets that jitter like crickets when you toss them in the air — and made a museum.

Share your thoughts, insights, and photos on the crazy things people from faraway lands sell on the streets of Europe.

I like to wear a very basic jacket when I’m on the road giving talks. I like a jacket that looks sharp, but can be stuffed into a backpack or into the overhead bin on a plane. The salesman in the shop pulled one out and claimed, “This the same coat Obama wears.” Hearing that, I said, “Sold.”

Still, for several years, I’ve wondered if that was true. Then, last week I had the opportunity to meet President Obama in person. It cost me a very expensive donation, but I wanted to put my “Obama jacket” right next to his. Now I have photographic evidence — if you look very closely you can see that, yes! They are the same jacket.

I’ve waited 60 years to shake the hand of a president. It was well worth the wait, and in my mind, this was the right president. I realize that lots of Americans are hell-bent on hating Obama and believe our country is going to hell in a Democratic handbasket. But I’ve traveled enough to know that our country is doing pretty well these days…and it’s not an easy ship to captain. And, to those who hate government in general, I’d recommend traveling to a land where there is no competent government, as I have many times. Good governance is a blessing.

Actually getting to do the “grip and grin” with our president gave me a chance to see the energy and security that surrounds the most powerful man on the planet and the leader of the free world. The thrill is hard to explain.

Like any evangelical travel writer and TV host, I brought along a copy of one of my books (Travel as a Political Act) and DVDs of my two political TV specials (Rick Steves’ Iran and Rick Steves’ The Holy Land). Once in line, I learned no one can have anything in their hands as they approach the president. My gifts were taken with a promise that they would go “in his box.” Who knows what happened to them…but I felt good to have at least brought them for his box.

When I had my moment with the president, I told him (in fast-forward mode), “Hi, I’m Rick Steves. Thanks so much for all you do. I host a public television series about travel, and I produced shows on Iran and the Holy Land in hopes that Americans can better understand those regions. My shows are in your box.” It was all so fast, I don’t even think I remembered to pose for the camera. Grip, grin, and outta there.

I debated what to say in my ten seconds with our president (knowing it would all be a blur to him anyway). I could have thanked him for supporting Bread for the World in drawing a “circle of protection” around our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, who had been facing program budget cuts. Or I could have asked him to reclassify marijuana from a schedule one drug (in a league with heroin) to a more honest classification. But now, having had some time to think about it, I’ve realized the best thing would have been to show him how we were both wearing the same jacket…and how good it looks on us.

Like most of America, I’m following with sadness the unfolding refugee situation in Europe. “Why is it happening?” “What can we do?” and “How to avoid this in the future?” are important questions for caring people to ask. Here’s my take, which was published in The Seattle Times today. I’ve also included a link below to an article on the topic by my fellow guidebook author Cameron Hewitt, who’s in the Balkans right now and witnessing the situation firsthand.

Today’s increased flow of refugees into Europe, while certainly newsworthy, needs to be kept in historical and practical perspective. (If you’re wondering how this might affect your future travels in Europe, I’d say not at all.) While this is the biggest such event since World War II, European history is a long and steady story of difficult refugee movements. (In the late 1940s, people were forcibly relocated from entire regions, causing great suffering.) There are refugee crises around the planet today that equal this event in pain and misery, but go unnoticed because they don’t affect the rich world. The big difference with the current story: The refugees are heading to Europe rather than to some other poor, war-torn, and dysfunctional region. Crisis-hungry commercial news is looking for something sensational to talk about 24/7. And desperate people in boats and trains entering Europe create dramatic images that catch our attention.

What’s the impact on Europe? Europe consists of roughly half a billion people. That’s 500 million. The refugee influx is in the hundreds of thousands (or single-digit millions, if Europeans open their doors a little wider). Europe can certainly absorb these people into its societies and workforces. Remember, European business leaders were the ones who favored admitting Turkey (with 75 million people) into the EU — not because they cared about struggling people, but because a graying Europe has an aging workforce that needs to be revitalized, which is what lots of young, hardworking immigrants can do. Europe needs immigrant labor as much as the USA does. Who else will pick our crops, tend our gardens, hang our drywall, and look after our children and aging parents? While that’s the clichéd image of an immigrant laborer, both Europe and the USA can attribute their economic success to smart, innovative, and industrious newcomers who contributed mightily to their adopted societies.

These refugees are leaving miserable and dangerous worlds, taking huge risks in the process. And terrible hardships are being experienced at Europe’s borders. As usual, Scandinavian countries are admitting more refugees per capita than many other nations. These countries’ acts of national kindness are compassionate and the decent thing to do. But even the most generous immigration policies of small nations like these will not alter the big-picture problem.

Is opening the doors of the rich world even wider — enough to allow in the tens of millions of people who’d like to swap worlds — the right answer? I don’t think so. Personally, I don’t want to see tiny countries such as Finland or Iceland overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of refugees, which would fundamentally change their social structures.

I think the most compassionate and practical approach is to deal with the existing stream of refugees generously and help these immigrants assimilate into First World economies. But then we must focus on making the world they fled more stable and prosperous by changing our approach to the developing world. This can happen both from a trade policy point of view and from a military point of view (since, if we’re honest, most wars take place in the poor world and are fueled by rich countries with an eye on more fuel).
The flood of refugees we see on the news today is just the canary in the global economic coal mine. With the advent of climate refugees on the horizon and the specter of more societies breaking down in future decades, I fear this relative trickle will become a torrent. In the name of compassion and decency (as well as our own security and well-being, for those motivated purely by such things), it’s time for the rich world to get serious about making life more stable and comfortable in the places so many refugees are risking everything to leave.

Regardless of where you may live, there is no place like home. The challenge before us, along with giving today’s refugees a new home, is to help make the home they fled more livable.

Note: I’d welcome your comments on this difficult issue. And be sure to read Cameron Hewitt’s report from the Balkans where he has witnessed refugees on the move in person.