I've found Sam Harris' thoughts on immigration to be the best description of the problem in general. Like you say in your second to last paragraph, we're all lucky to have been born here in the US or any developed country (for those of us who were) and who are we to keep other people out? But at a certain point it's kind of a "life raft" situation where we can only absorb so many problems from the surrounding world before it starts to hurt us. There are also other topics that affect how many people we can admit, such as the housing shortages in general.
In the most extreme case of totally open borders, Sam argues in the first clip below that basically the general well-being of people in the US would drop to basically the "average" level of the world's problems because anyone living in a country with slightly worse living conditions would want to immigrate here until there's not much difference between the issues they're fleeing and the quality of life in the US. I personally find this fairly compelling
It's also sort of similar to the Peter Singer version of effective altruism where you give everything away and are living like a poor nomad because your money could be spent saving lives. I think this isn't actually the best or most sustainable way to help humanity in the long run. Another analogy is put your own oxygen mask on first in the plane before you help others
The second clip has a few other of Sam's thoughts. He's spoken more completely on this topic on his podcast, but I can't remember which episodes and I can't find them
Thanks for your thoughts as ever. I must admit to writing the piece with a UK centric view. I read Washington describe how the entire global population could fit in Texas - and especially when he paired it with how immigrants add more to economies than they take, thought larger nations like the US could and perhaps should take in more immigrants. That being said - I haven't studied the effects of mass migration enough to speak with a greater level of authority - so maybe it would impact the quality of life of residents? On that I am unsure. Thanks again for your thoughts - always good to hear your perspective.
Oh yeah there are absolutely positives to immigration as well. Immigration is a good thing on several levels, including economically. But I think not all immigration is equal here and at a certain scale, instead of adding new skilled labor or energy, we end up with more problems and mouths to feed. I don't know where that threshold is, but I do think it exists. So when we talk about fully open borders, I think it's relevant. Cheers man, I enjoy reading your thoughts in these pieces :)
Yeah I'd agree with you there - it's certainly a good, but completely uncontrolled immigration would likely be unwise. And thank you! Appreciate you! :)
I've found Sam Harris' thoughts on immigration to be the best description of the problem in general. Like you say in your second to last paragraph, we're all lucky to have been born here in the US or any developed country (for those of us who were) and who are we to keep other people out? But at a certain point it's kind of a "life raft" situation where we can only absorb so many problems from the surrounding world before it starts to hurt us. There are also other topics that affect how many people we can admit, such as the housing shortages in general.
In the most extreme case of totally open borders, Sam argues in the first clip below that basically the general well-being of people in the US would drop to basically the "average" level of the world's problems because anyone living in a country with slightly worse living conditions would want to immigrate here until there's not much difference between the issues they're fleeing and the quality of life in the US. I personally find this fairly compelling
It's also sort of similar to the Peter Singer version of effective altruism where you give everything away and are living like a poor nomad because your money could be spent saving lives. I think this isn't actually the best or most sustainable way to help humanity in the long run. Another analogy is put your own oxygen mask on first in the plane before you help others
The second clip has a few other of Sam's thoughts. He's spoken more completely on this topic on his podcast, but I can't remember which episodes and I can't find them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0xMdm4_-dM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDL6JIkdqyU
Hey Cody hope you're well.
Thanks for your thoughts as ever. I must admit to writing the piece with a UK centric view. I read Washington describe how the entire global population could fit in Texas - and especially when he paired it with how immigrants add more to economies than they take, thought larger nations like the US could and perhaps should take in more immigrants. That being said - I haven't studied the effects of mass migration enough to speak with a greater level of authority - so maybe it would impact the quality of life of residents? On that I am unsure. Thanks again for your thoughts - always good to hear your perspective.
Oh yeah there are absolutely positives to immigration as well. Immigration is a good thing on several levels, including economically. But I think not all immigration is equal here and at a certain scale, instead of adding new skilled labor or energy, we end up with more problems and mouths to feed. I don't know where that threshold is, but I do think it exists. So when we talk about fully open borders, I think it's relevant. Cheers man, I enjoy reading your thoughts in these pieces :)
Yeah I'd agree with you there - it's certainly a good, but completely uncontrolled immigration would likely be unwise. And thank you! Appreciate you! :)