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Are you proposing that the US should open the floodgates to whoever wants to come over here? I'm not anti-immigration by any means, but letting everyone in all

Are you proposing that the US should open the floodgates to whoever wants to come over here? I'm not anti-immigration by any means, but letting everyone in all at once seems like a clearly bad idea.

Retric 16y ago
Post globalization the ratio of poor to rich countries will be such that people will only understand your argument on the intellectual level.
fleitz 16y ago
It's a great idea, it will quickly eliminate most entitlement programs as people start to worry about "immigrants" receiving benefits.
- Symmetry 16y ago
  As someone who is rather attached to the idea of entitlement programs, I fear you're right. However the amount of good that could be done by more open borders is likely to be much greater than the good done social programs, so this looks like a place I'll have to just grin and bear it.
bluesnowmonkey 16y ago
But it's not clear. What would go wrong? You can move about very freely in the US. If you live in Florida, you can quit your job and move to Alaska today. No notice, no paperwork at all. You just go live there. And this system works fine in practice. But if you decide to stop along the way and live in Canada, well suddenly it's an international incident. You have to apply in advance -- pay fees and fill out forms. They will physically examine your body. Committees you never meet will look into the most private details of your life and evaluate whether you are worthy to move to Canada. It will take a long time and you might be denied. Why is it dangerous to let people cross imaginary lines? People don't suddenly become vile and dangerous at 49° N.
- jbarham 16y ago
  > People don't suddenly become vile and dangerous at 49° N. A fair number of people north of that line think that about a lot of the people immediately south of that line... I'm speaking somewhat facetiously as a Canadian, but the degree of anti-US sentiment can sometimes be irrationally and absurdly high. For all that it is still much easier for skilled immigrants to get into Canada than the US.

Are you proposing that the US should open the floodgates to whoever wants to come over here? I'm not anti-immigration by any means, but letting everyone in all at once seems like a clearly bad idea.

Retric 16y ago

Post globalization the ratio of poor to rich countries will be such that people will only understand your argument on the intellectual level.

fleitz 16y ago

It's a great idea, it will quickly eliminate most entitlement programs as people start to worry about "immigrants" receiving benefits.

Symmetry 16y ago
As someone who is rather attached to the idea of entitlement programs, I fear you're right. However the amount of good that could be done by more open borders is likely to be much greater than the good done social programs, so this looks like a place I'll have to just grin and bear it.

bluesnowmonkey 16y ago

But it's not clear. What would go wrong? You can move about very freely in the US. If you live in Florida, you can quit your job and move to Alaska today. No notice, no paperwork at all. You just go live there. And this system works fine in practice. But if you decide to stop along the way and live in Canada, well suddenly it's an international incident. You have to apply in advance -- pay fees and fill out forms. They will physically examine your body. Committees you never meet will look into the most private details of your life and evaluate whether you are worthy to move to Canada. It will take a long time and you might be denied. Why is it dangerous to let people cross imaginary lines? People don't suddenly become vile and dangerous at 49° N.

jbarham 16y ago
> People don't suddenly become vile and dangerous at 49° N. A fair number of people north of that line think that about a lot of the people immediately south of that line... I'm speaking somewhat facetiously as a Canadian, but the degree of anti-US sentiment can sometimes be irrationally and absurdly high. For all that it is still much easier for skilled immigrants to get into Canada than the US.