I had no idea that getting sober would allow me the opportunity to not be a bitch or a control freak, but it has. I came into the rooms of recovery to clean up. I had no idea of all the positive changes that seem to be common side effects of recovery.

Intriguingly, people don't lie and cheat indiscriminately -- simply because they can get away with it. Even when there is no chance of being found out, people show some level of aversion to acting unethically. They want it both ways: to profit by dishonesty, but also to preserve some sense of themselves as moral beings.

I call this 2 + 2 = 5: a writer's tendency to insist upon something that isn't true. In reality, two plus two does not equal five. Two plus two will never equal five.

Instead of dealing with the conflict that comes with both demanding and demonizing immigrants, we bury our heads away from the reality that conflict exists.