To be blunt, Mr. Maurice is flabbergasted that the situation is otherwise, particularly in this era of globalization and instant worldwide communication. "Are these people nutty?" he asks. What gives them the right to erect artificial barriers to keep out "foreigners."

Maurice also is astonished at the progression of anti-immigrant thought, particularly in America. Today, it's undocumented Mexicans who come to work and earn money, to help keep their families afloat. In exchange for risking their lives crossing the border, they're branded "illegal" and, when captured, deported like unwanted animals. Looking back at history, which Maurice often does, reveals comparable animosity directed against Jews and other "displaced persons" (often derided as "DPs") who arrived after World War II. Decades earlier, immigrants from Ireland were the ones who drew the most vociferous protest. "Who will be next?" Maurice asks, after recounting the involuntary "immigration" of slaves from Africa.

Where a person or pig is born and grows up is, let's face it, a matter of pure chance: an accident of birth. Mr. Maurice, for example, was born – or more accurately, knitted – in England. In London, to be precise. Yet clearly, as anyone can plainly discern, he is of French descent, based on appearance as well as manners and sophistication. In fact, he claims ancestry from nearly every part of the world. And he himself has resided in the United States since he was a veritable piglet.

Now, what if one of those piggies from the past had not been permitted to migrate, seeking more suitable pens in other locales when necessary (or desired). Why, Mr. Maurice might not have come into being at all! Quelle horror! he would cry out at such a barbaric notion. Perish the thought, and wash your mouth out with soap for uttering such heresy, he insists.