The Case for Open Borders

Arguments in Favor of Open Borders

1. Raising a child is expensive.
• Emigration is a net drain to the source country.
• Immigration is a net gain to the destination country.
2. Every additional worker adds to the economy.
• Workers better than the average (H1 visa, etc.) add to the average skill base.
• While, inferior workers make for wonderful slaves... er, I mean manuals.
• Someone's got to wash those dishes and trim those lawns.
3. If you're not with us, you're against us.
• If that aforementioned better worker is not taking a job here, they will be taking a job elsewhere (as in outsourcing it overseas).
• So, to some extent, excluding better workers, basically means one desires inferior leaders, managers, and innovators than would otherwise be the case.
4. Success breeds success.
• This is the notion of Critical Mass.
• More brains, means more networking, means reduced cost of innovation.
• This is the reason for conferences, professional societies, and in former times, salons.
5. Cultural Imperialism works.
• English is the international language of trade.
• The Dollar is the default international currency.
• Let The American Way be the default cultural norm throughout the world.
• It is not possible to visit a country without absorbing some of it's values.
• Thus, foreign born workers slowly become indistinguishable from natives.
• And even if they ultimately go home, they will bring those learned values with them.

Arguments Against Open Borders: refuted...

1. Foreign workers will take jobs away from those naturally born in America.
• If one is better than the foreign born, they will become the foreign born's supervisor.
• And if the foreign born are more skilled, then those who would be workers anyway will be lucky enough to have better bosses than they might otherwise have had.
2. Foreign born nationals will dilute what it means to be an American.
• If we take it as self evident that the American Way is the best way, then we can suppose the vast majority of immigrants (being a reasonable sort of people, looking for a better way of life) will eagerly adopt the American Way.
• And if their way is better, is it not the American Way to adopt that, too?
• I for one enjoy The Great Experiment, the Melting Pot that is America.
3. Terrorism, need one say more?
• But either our law enforcement is effective or it is not.
• And if not, perhaps it should be.