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>> "The argument that the West should let in refugees is predicated on the West's history of colonialism and military adventures in the third world." Most of t
by avn2109 8y ago
>> "The argument that the West should let in refugees is predicated on the West's history of colonialism and military adventures in the third world."
Most of the time in the public discourse near me, under no circumstances is there any argument at all made in favor of the claims "borders should be open" and "let's bring third world immigrants here" and similar.
Instead these claims are widely accepted as unexamined premises that are self evidently and foundationally true, and that to deny them for any reason is the mark of dangerous lunacy.
Personally I find this situation ridiculous in both the epistemological and practical sense, but there you have it.
I leave it to the reader as an exercise to determine why these claims occupy such a privileged position in our public discourse.
- pradn 8y agoI agree that hardly anyone argues for totally free borders. But many argue for more open borders for refugees (who by definition need help). Others argue for more free immigration from former colonies. Whether you are okay with that depends on your stance toward reparations, multiculturalism, helping those in need, and the duty of historical oppressors and colonizers. I don't understand how this issue has epistemological dimensions. Can you explain?
- avn2109 8y agoMany people in my area regard "3rd world immigrants have a right to come to America" as a proposition so self-evidently true that it could not possibly merit proof, argument, or thinking about. The epistemological dimension, along which I find this ideology particularly ridiculous, comes from the "self-evidently true" and "doesn't need proof" parts.
- verall 8y agoI'm confused - are you saying that "borders should be open" is a claim that is widely accepted as self evidently true, or the opposite? It seems clear to me that the vast majority of people believe that the global status quo of closed borders is correct, or else there wouldn't have been a huge wave of anti-immigration leaders elected globally.