BRUNSWICK

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, spoke about immigration, technology and climate change denial before members of the Brunswick Downtown Association on Wednesday.

Mitchell said the country must address globalization and rapid technological change, along with global warming and rapid population growth in the world’s least-developed countries.

Refugee crisis

Mitchell noted how the flood of immigrants have brought fear and anxiety among many nations, including our own.

“The number of refugees now is second only to the number following the Second World War. And if they continue at the same rate, they are likely to outmatch that,” Mitchell said.

Still, he reminded the audience that every one of them had, at one time, come from somewhere else — as an immigrant or a refugee.

Mitchell noted the rise in Muslims worldwide and the wars that have brought them to our shores are no reason for alarm.

“That flood demonstrates the reality that what most people in the Muslim world want is what most people everywhere want — decent homes, stable and secure society, a good job and especially a chance to give their children a better life,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell acknowledged the threat of violent Islamic extremists, but noted the vast majority of Muslims want peace and security.

Technological revolution

Mitchell also addressed the changing times and the technological revolution, noting that during the Industrial Revolution, many resisted change, fearing machines would replace the human element of the vastly immigrant workforce.

Mitchell said that while many did lose their jobs, the increased productivity resulted in increased commerce, which translated into more products and more jobs.

“I believe that the technological revolution that we are now passing through will prove to be just as significant. This will have effects on human society as fully and as significant as the Industrial Revolution,” Mitchell said.

While technology has increased productivity, Mitchell warned the benefits are not being reaped by all.

“We are seeing a dramatic rise in the total amount of wealth but it is always disproportionate in the distribution of that wealth,” Mitchell said, adding that the disproportionate amount of wealth held by just a few at the top has demoralized the workforce.

With increased technology and productivity comes the responsibility to see the consequences of our global actions. Mitchell said one of the most disturbing features of our current political discourse is the extent to which the United States denies scientific realities like climate change. He also drew a parallel between those who deny climate change and those who once believed the Earth was flat or at the center of the solar system.

“Incredibly, almost all the candidates for president, in our country, deny the existence of global warming or oppose efforts to deal with it or worst of all, both. It’s not just disturbing, it’s truly dangerous,” Mitchell said.

Radicalized Republicans

In all things from technology, immigration and how we treat our climate, Mitchell said the polarization of the two main political parties has weakened the center. Specifically, he pointed to Tea Party Republicans radicalizing the Republican party.

According to Mitchell, the two party system allowed some degree of fluidity of positions over the year, citing the pro-slavery Democrats and abolitionist Republicans of the Civil War era.

Now, with so many important issues before politicians who are pulling further apart, Mitchell quoted W.B. Yeats, saying “the center cannot hold.”

dmcintire@timesrecord.com