Inside The Monster
By Anwar Lahnin
This week there was a specific topic on my mind, the idea of divorce and abandonment. It is a running theme in many families, especially the ones coming from immigrant backgrounds. Often these people come from a foreign country and then work to adjust to a new culture and language. It can be difficult to say at least. I’m not speaking of myself, but of my family’s older generation.
People from these countries work sometimes producing little in return. It’s not their fault usually but rather the rigid rules of the society they live in. Most places in the world are not exempt from this, and the rules vary depending on time zones and regions. Most news outlets would rather not say this because it doesn’t suit their agenda. It challenges the carefully controlled system they built.
Often the very people that did the most production were given the least. There are various names for these types of people and they exist everywhere in the world. It is not necessarily a good or bad label. The name isn’t what’s important, rather the subtle lies that were never spoken and the unwritten contracts that weren’t kept. I’m talking now about the bosses and managers, not the workers.
Slowly this old world paradigm is being challenged and shifted because of powerful independent voices. If you’ve read this far, thank you.
Stay tuned.
There’s an interesting tension here between the personal and the systemic that made me pause. The opening idea about divorce and abandonment in immigrant families feels like it’s pointing toward something deeper, almost an inherited fatigue or quiet disappointment that doesn’t always get spoken about directly.
I found myself wanting to stay longer with those lived experiences and stories, because that’s where the emotional weight of the piece feels strongest. It feels like the beginning of a larger reflection rather than a conclusion, and I’m curious to see where you take it next.