Universal Discourse

My family and I have finally completed the application process for refugee status. I am very excited to say that we will be leaving for Canada next week! While I am very excited to escape the war, I am very nervous. I have been reading the newspaper, and I have come across many articles that describe the opinions of the citizens of the countries that are taking in refugees (including my future home, Canada), and some of them worry me.  Many people feel that all Muslims are "terrorists", simply because of ISIS. I am Muslim, but I do not agree with the actions of ISIS whatsoever. It is disheartening to learn that so many people hold this inaccurate opinion. On the other hand, there are many people that are empathetic towards refugees, and would do anything to help them find a safe place. 

I have finally finished my Peirce readings, and have begun reading Mind, Self, & Society by George Herbert Mead. I am enjoying Mead's work a lot, and I will explain one of his ideas that I feel can particularly apply to the variety of opinions people hold such as those that I described above. The idea that I feel is relevant is the concept of universal discourse. Universal discourse is the ability to communicate based on common understanding. In Mead's words, "If we can get a set of significant symbols which have in this sense a universal meaning, anyone that can talk in that language intelligently has that universality. Now, there is no limitation except that a person should talk that language, use the symbols which carry those significations; and that gives an absolute universality for anyone who enters into that language. There are of course, different universes of discourse, but back of all, to the extent that they are potentially comprehensible to each other, lies the logicians' universe of discourse with a set of constants and propositional functions, and anyone using them will belong to that same universe of discourse. It is this which gives a potential universality to the process of communication" (Mead 1967, 269). I believe what Mead is trying to say is that as long as people speak the same language and comprehend the same gestures and signs, they have the ability to make communication universal.

I believe that if Canadians can develop a universal discourse around refugees, and eliminate the idea that refugees pose a threat to security due to their association with terrorists, refugees will be more widely accepted in to their new society, and will be able to adapt more easily. Given the multitude of opinions people hold about refugees, the development of universal discourse can allow for cooperation in dealing with the transitions both refugees and current citizens of the countries accepting refugees will undergo. 

I am very afraid of what people will think of my family and I once we get to Canada. I want them to know that we are grateful for the opportunity to construct a new life, and we would never do anything to jeopardize our new home country. I want people to realize that not all Muslims are terrorists. I am hoping that what Mead's writing has taught me can assist me in developing a universal discourse with the Canadians I will live alongside.