Reflections on the Krikorian-Caplan Soho Forum Debate

Thanks again to Gene Epstein and Reason for sponsoring last week’s immigration debate between myself and Mark Krikorian.  Thanks to Mark, too, for debating before an unsympathetic audience.  The resolution, you may recall, was: The current pandemic makes it all the more necessary for the federal government to tighten restrictions on immigration. Here are my extra thoughts on the exchange.

The Other Great Shutdown

Coronavirus originated in China, migration brought it here, and suddenly life is terrible.  Dogmatic libertarians can keep droning on about “liberty,” but everyone else now plainly sees that strict immigration controls could have stopped this plague – and only strict immigration controls can stop the plagues of the future. This argument sounds so right.  What could possibly be wrong with it?

Robin Grille: Parenting for a Peaceful World (1h28m)

This episode features a talk by psychologist Robin Grille from 2015. Robin invites you on a journey that begins with the surprising and often shocking history and evolution of parenting. With the aid of recent revolutionary discoveries about early childhood development and the human brain, the history of childhood offers vital clues about the roots of human violence and social disharmony.

On Pandemics

96% of positive coronavirus cases were asymptomatic across 4 US state prisons, according to research by Reuters. I’d heard previously that asymptomatic persons numbered 50-70% of positive coronavirus cases. If most people who get the virus never show any symptoms, and if total case mortality is well below 1%, is COVID-19 really a pandemic?