Somali born 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

With knowledge of her background, we can respect her insight as applied to the Somali community in Minnesota. She says they have "clustered tightly and predictably with the same social logic that governs life in Mogadishu, where I was born."

"Social logic" in Mogadishu is clan-based, with total loyalty going to the clan or family. It's a worldview where "resources are scarce, the world is dangerous, and survival depends on extracting maximum benefit for one's own family."

The only social model they trust is "the family, the clan, the inner circle. The state [country and government] becomes a distant entity to be milked, repeatedly and without hesitation." Retribution and violence will follow.

Loyalty to the clan and hostility to the wider community (like the city or state) is not compatible with the values of their American neighbors. "If [they] don't undergo a full cultural and moral reboot--true assimilation--then they will carry those assumptions into the societies that receive them."

"Minnesota now faces problems it can't make sense of, let alone solve." The stakes are high.

from The Free Press