There have recently been reports from both the US and Europe that refugees from the war-torn middle east are feeding the homeless to show their appreciation for the welcome that they have received. Sadly, not everyone has been so welcoming towards these refugees, and they have faced relentless bigotry from nationalists who are extremely vocal about their disdain for immigration.

One refugee in Germany named Alex was spotted with a food table set up where he was feeding the homeless. Locals began to realize what he was doing and decided to help out by donating their time.

In one message posted to Facebook, one of the locals said (translated from German), “THATS ALEX ! A big shoutout to him this morning , this man impressed me deeply ! His story is not tangible for me and I can not begin to understand what he had to do but I’m so glad to have met him and to see what he does. He really lost everything , he had to leave behind because the IS people wanted to kill him he’s walking from here to there and has left his old life back his family in Syria . And now he’s in Germany and goes every Saturday . although he himself does not have much on the street and distributed food to the homeless . True to its motto “GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE ” . Yesterday I was able to go with him and help , I am so fascinated by this man ! Yeah So I have the feeling like , God bless him as he is a blessing for so many more people! THANK YOU ALEX!”

Refugees who have moved to the US have made similar efforts. It was reported this week that Seattle area’s Muslim community regularly hosts charity events to help the homeless and serve them food, and their most recent charity effort was staffed by a number of Syrian refugees.

Nabil Al-Salkini, a 14-year old refugee who worked the food line told local reporters that he “wants people to know that the image of ISIS does not represent us.”

His older brother Yazan Al-Salkini said, “Life stopped. We lost our home. It got bombed. Burned down. We couldn’t go to school because civil war started. We were about to be persecuted or killed.”

In the debates concerning refugees from the middle east, many people have argued that western countries already have enough of a problem with homelessness and that they should be taken care of before letting anyone else into the region. This line of thinking is many times described as “the fixed pie fallacy” in economics. The idea of the fixed pie is a false notion that life is a zero-sum game where there are only winners and losers, and that wealth is stagnant, and can not be spontaneously created. However, wealth can be created spontaneously through ingenuity and labor, and as we can see with the refugees who are feeding the homeless, it is possible that more refugees could make the figurative “pie” bigger for everyone, instead of taking a chunk out of it as some critics have claimed.

While some critics have stated that refugees would be a burden or a drain on the economy, they have actually proven that they can be a part of the solution, and actually contribute to positive economic growth in the area.

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John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com.