I’ve known Tyler Cowen for 25 years. Straussian misreadings notwithstanding, I assure you that he has little patience for open borders and even less for my brand of pacifism. But given the general moral theory that he embraces in his new Stubborn Attachments, it’s hard to see why Tyler doesn’t already agree with me.
Tag: immigration
Whence the Honduran Caravan?
I don’t know a ton about the Honduran caravan, but it doesn’t seem like some sort of spontaneous movement. I can’t imagine the motivations come from outside of the US political system.
Meritocracy Without Borders: Sowell Edition
In recent years, Thomas Sowell has been a staunch advocate of stricter immigration policies. Which is ironic, because this passage from his Compassion Versus Guilt has stuck with me for thirty years: When I travel through California’s vast agricultural areas, the people I see working in the fields under the hot sun are usually Mexicans. …
Does Immigration Shrink the Welfare State?
People normally assume that immigration will expand the welfare state. The lazy version says (a) immigrants are net beneficiaries of the welfare state, and (b) people vote their self-interest. The better version says that immigrants’ countries of origins favor more redistribution than natives – and immigrants’ bring their political culture with them.
Right-Wing Grievance Studies
The team behind the Sokal 2.0 hoax self-consciously targeted what they call “grievance studies.” What ties all their targets together? My preferred answer is that grievance studies embrace both antipathy and self-pity.
Your Rights End Where the Rights of Others Begin
The ONLY responsibility others have with regards to your rights is to not violate them. To not ban books, to not declare a War on Politically Incorrect Drugs, or establish medical licensing or an FDA, to respect private property, and to not make up anti-gun “laws” of any kind. If they are doing something which actually interferes with your rights, they are the bad guys.
Compulsory Schooling Laws: What if We Didn’t Have Them?
We should always be leery of laws passed “for our own good,” as if the state knows better. The history of compulsory schooling statutes is rife with paternalism, triggered by anti-immigrant sentiments in the mid-nineteenth century and fueled by a desire to shape people into a standard mold.
Are We Sure It Can’t It Happen Here?
One runs a risk whenever one cites the 20th century’s great terror states while discussing current ominous developments in the western democracies. Apparent comparisons of the United States or western and central European countries to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia will inevitably be hooted down with accusations of alarmist conspiracy-mongering and worse, shameful ahistoricity. Nevertheless, that must not keep us from noticing and pointing to contemporary events that bear an eerie resemblance, however slight, to things that went on in those totalitarian terror states.
The True Criminals
Some people refuse to mince words. They insist that individuals who enter the USA without the national government’s approval are criminals. Consider, however, that the U.S. government has no constitutional authority whatsoever over immigration, only over naturalization.
Proglodytes and Conservatrolls
That’s what I see all around me when I look at how people interact with each other. Of course, the simpler name for proglodytes and conservatrolls would be “statists”, but that just leaves them staring at you with no comprehension in their dull eyes. Most don’t understand that word any better than they’d understand the more fun descriptive terms.