Open Borders Utopianism Vs. Psychological And Practical Reality
At Quillette, George Gallatin writes about why the "open borders" ideal is dangerously bad:
The open borders philosophy is wrong, because, like the failed ideologies of the past century, it doesn't account for unpleasant facts about human nature and society. The truth Communism missed is that human beings prefer self-interest to compelled altruism. The truth open borders advocates miss is that human societies are tribal.
He explains:
From my point-of-view, mass migration is the singular challenge of the 21st century. This is because it is a meta-issue that will affect our response to every other challenge. This is due to the fact that as mass migrations change demography, they may also affect changes in host nations' cultures and political economies. The specifics of these changes are exceedingly difficult to forecast, because they hinge on dozens of variables specific to the migrants, the host nation, and the scale and rate of the movements. While we do not yet know the vector, the titanic, high velocity migration the West is currently experiencing will cause profound changes.It is my fear that the primary near-term effect will be surging tribalism. Unlimited mass migration could cripple liberal Western powers with perpetual ethnic tension, and halt their ability to effectively act on the world stage. This could cede the century to more unified authoritarian powers such as Russia and China who have drastically different value systems and views of human dignity.
And I think he's right on why many Western elites mistakenly support open borders:
Luxury DiversityMany elite Westerners have a passionate belief in diversity because they have lived it. Not always in their neighborhoods, but quite often at university. What they fail to realize is that a top-flight university offers a very narrow type of diversity. For example, in my university class we had over 50 nationalities. It was a wonderful experience, and I formed abiding friendships with people from all over the world. What I later realized, is that the social cohesion of my class was greatly assisted by the fact that the admissions office was a border. They had heavily screened the incoming class for intelligence, socialization, and personality characteristics. The relevant distinction wasn't between the Tamil Brahmins and Tatar Russians, but between students and non-students. We were all members of a university created community, enjoying carefully curated luxury diversity.
None of this is surprising, elites have always gotten along. What the connoisseurs of luxury diversity miss, is that not everyone is a well-socialized member of the culturally converging global bourgeoisie. People from across the world differ significantly in behavior and custom. Some of these behaviors and customs are awesome, others, such as honour killings, are not, (just as the West has traditions that are awesome, and others such as mass shootings, which are horrific). When migration occurs, we have to be aware that these behaviors and customs come along and can cause considerable strain in the receiving nation.
And diversity -- in reality?
Of the top ten most diverse countries in the world, every single one has suffered major, lethal political violence since 2001. Diversity is not some holy sacrament, it is a deadly serious socio-political challenge that needs to be prudently managed. It is a mistake to believe that unregulated mass migration will bring about redemption for guilty Westerners. For whatever economic benefits it may bring, it will also bring tribalism, disunity, and violence.
There's also what Milton Friedman said -- that you can't have open borders and a welfare state.
(Right now, we have extremely porous borders and a welfare state.)
I understand that the author feels the PC need to bash all cultures equally, but... mass shootings are a *tradition* of the West?
People exist that defend disgusting practices such as honor killings and genital mutilation, as part of their culture. Won't find anyone cheerleading mass shootings.
Rest of the article good, but chose not to resist picking the nit...
gcmortal at September 29, 2018 11:23 PM
Amy, you so realize that this is why Trump was elected? Hillary and the left want open borders to bring in Democrat voters.
Any Democrat votes in the upcoming election is a vote for open borders.
David H at September 30, 2018 9:59 AM
Open boarders is laughably suicidal to any country.
Just ask how much of a % of China entering the US would have won the last election. less than 1/2 of a percent.
Pop of China 1.41 B .5% is over 70 million. Trump won with 65 million. The entire house and 1/3 of the Senate, taken without firing a shot. The cheapest and legal takeover of a place have a % of population walk across the boarder and vote.
Same % India, Latin America would have to send a whole 1% or less if one counts tribalism of those already here.
Joe J at September 30, 2018 10:05 AM
David, it's not just border control. On virtually every issue Amy writes about, Trump is on her side, or neutral at worst. Yet she's been bashing him since he started running.
Rex Little at October 1, 2018 6:58 AM
Rex, I guess it is like Hotel California for the mind. Wrong-think is very dangerous in her neck if the woods.
David H at October 1, 2018 8:46 AM
"you can't have open borders and a welfare state."
I agree, but see this as why it is essential to eliminate welfare, not to keep propping up the giant welfare program for government called "immigration control".
You may or may not care about the Constitution (I don't) but for those who do: "immigration control" is unambiguously unconstitutional. Completely. The Constitution doesn't allow government to declare anyone an "illegal immigrant" If you don't like it, change the Constitution to allow "border control" to be "legal" (it will never be ethical, but that's a separate issue).
For those who want to conflate private property rights with government borders... your property rights end at your property lines. The government doesn't own all the property inside its "tax farm" (and can't actually own anything anyway). Borderism is anti-property rights.
Plus, there's no such thing as "immigration".
Kent McManigal at October 1, 2018 10:22 AM
Troll can't even figure out how to embed a link properly, lol.
Cousin Dave at October 1, 2018 3:23 PM
@Kent
Somewhere in that word salad is a thought. Ignore it.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at October 1, 2018 4:14 PM
Kent, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenary_power
"Won't find anyone cheerleading mass shootings."
gcmortal, you need to expand your awareness beyond your nice suburban enclave.
bw1 at October 1, 2018 6:33 PM
Mass migration changes the destination to look more like the origin location. Just ask the Cherokee, Souix, etc. My mother's ancestors wiped out their way of life.
My father's ancestors, with their Catholic traditions so accepting of authoritarian, centralized ecclesiastic power, when they came here in large numbers 100 or so years ago, moved the Overton window to be more accepting of socialism.
bw1 at October 1, 2018 6:37 PM
Just as familiarity breeds contempt, diversity plus proximity breeds war.
bw1 at October 1, 2018 6:38 PM
My bologna has a first name.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at October 2, 2018 7:49 PM
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