IN TIME WE WILL ALL BE REFUGEES

The irony of rich countries attempting to stop people from seeking asylum or immigrating is that millions of people in those countries may in time need to seek refuge themselves, perhaps as soon as in a few short decades.

Climate change is set change the face of the planet. Rising sea levels, in particular, will wreck havoc on coastal cities and communities. Three degrees of warming (which is foreseeable this century) could swallow Miami and Shanghai. There will be nowhere to go but inland.

WILL AMERICANS SEEK SHELTER IN CANADA SOON?

It is a safe bet that people living in poor places will absolutely seek greater shelter and refuge in cities that are wealthier and have greater resources. But the same is true in rich countries as well. People in rural areas in the north of the United States may seek refuge in places like Toronto or Vancouver, or deeper into Canada. It is unlikely that an international border as large as the northern U.S. border will stop tens of thousands of people seeking to cross it—not without massive militarization and surveillance, which the Canadian economy may not be able to produce or sustain.

The way that people in rich countries treat refugees today is the way that future governments will treat them tomorrow. It is not a simple concept to understand. We ought to be taking these years, before the refugee crisis truly explodes, to prepare for the great people movements to come.