Comments on: Retro Review: Sanctuary

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:18:00 +0000

For a country that used to say Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, you’ve certainly come a long way to Fort America http://tinyurl.com/c8pn49l

By: Nobody

Nobody — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:06:00 +0000

The situation in this episode is most analogous not to immigration per se, but to refugees (one wonders if it’s inspired by Voyage of the Damned). While the United States accepts more refugees than many other developed nations, refugee-producing crises happen on a regular basis and as you can see from this list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee_population), it is the developing world that shoulders most of the burden.

By: Seventhbeacon

Seventhbeacon — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:09:00 +0000

Nor am I. Considering the issue of scale, I’d say it makes the US very tolerant ‘per capita’, though I can imagine there are some small countries elsewhere that might handle it well.

By: Guest Beta

Guest Beta — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:21:00 +0000

If it were referring to illegal immigration (sidestepping the whole idea of “tolerance” for breaking laws), I should ask: are there *really* developed countries more tolerant of illegal immigrants than the USA? Not to make a whole sidebar, but I am not knowledgeable on that topic.

By: Seventhbeacon

Seventhbeacon — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:07:00 +0000

(First: Good review, thank you. I remember this episode being pretty underwhelming, too. Good theme, less than perfect execution.)

As many issues as I have with NAFTA, passed during the Clinton administration, one positive thing it did do was make immigration infinitely more accessible, especially for people like doctors and other professionals.

Is it possible we’re talking about *illegal* immigration? You know, because people don’t like illegal immigrants – not because of ethnicity, but because they’re here illegally, many working and sending money to family out of the country, directly weakening the economy in the process.

It is a pretty big brush stroke, however. I don’t think we’re going to get examples directly. If they exist, the onus is on the claimant (thank you, Dawkins and Hitchens for my own continuing education).

Something from history class is itching in the back of my brain about anti-immigration rearing up in the 19th century, though, yeah.

By: Guest

Guest — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Yeah, I didn’t understand that comment either. I wondered if she meant “late 19th century,” but…that’s when tons of European immigrants were still coming on in, and historically speaking, their integration was relatively smooth.

By: fainodraino

fainodraino — Sun, 06 May 2012 02:50:00 +0000

“I’m not sure whether the germ of the idea came from late 20th century US immigration policy, in which a nation dominated by European immigrants became particularly intolerant of people from different ethnic backgrounds”

Examples, please. I think the U.S. is a pretty tolerant place.

By: SJStar

SJStar — Sat, 05 May 2012 13:44:00 +0000

“Each overestimates her own power and underestimates the other’s.”

Sounds like someone here we know, Michelle? (Quoted by someone familiar?)

By: Robert Clements

Robert Clements — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:31:00 +0000

Good summary of an interesting – but flawed – episode. The mature DS9 is straining at the leash here – clearly the writers started with an idea they knew up front wouldn’t resolve easily but struggled to get an ending anyway. Not for the first (or last) time, they came up with a one hour story which would have made a smashing (possibly literally) two parter

One thing i did like – which you appeared not to – though: the way the re-construction of Bajor was the subtext against which much of this story was told. In reality, this would have been a major issue for the Federation to deal with via DS9, yet it played an oddly minor role in the narrative, perhaps its stories didn’t fit naturally into a stage-bound series. Here was one chance for the backdrop to move into the foreground; & while the integration wasn’t a complete success, it was worth a visit