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>Immigration is probably the most important issue of our time. If we have a BI, we can't have immigration in any form remotely resembling what we have today, le
by nawitus 13y ago
>Immigration is probably the most important issue of our time. If we have a BI, we can't have immigration in any form remotely resembling what we have today, let alone some ideal situation where we have drastically more immigration. It's as simple as that. The cost of a BI (and the welfare state in general, really) is that millions of people are stuck in Haiti, India, Afghanistan and other desperately poor locales.
No. There are countries that have comprehensive social security and have immigration resembling what we have today - e.g. these countries have immigration that they already have.
- yummyfajitas 13y agoCould you explain how to have both a welfare state and a lot more immigration? How do you make the numbers work?
- nawitus 13y agoA lot more than what? One can have welfare state and a degree of immigration. Usually more immigration means that it's more expensive. Sweden has considerable immigration when compared to many other countries, and is also a welfare state. Immigration doesn't mean open borders.
- yummyfajitas 13y agoFor humanitarian reasons, it's important to get as close to open borders as we can. What benefits of a first world welfare state do we gain that are worth consigning a human being to live on $1300/year (the GDP/capita of Haiti)? Sweden is a pretty terrible example to cite. Go read the blog of Tino Sanandaji (an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden) - he does a great job showing why it's a failed policy and prevents some of the best arguments against immigration that I've read.
- nawitus 13y agoI didn't argue for Sweden's immigration policy - I argued that Sweden's immigration policy is possible.
- edraferi 13y agoIt's very difficult to design domestic policies optimized for a foreign population. Evaluation of the american welfare state need only consider the impact on the american population.