(An attempt at) A progressive policy on immigration ..

[ViolentPanda]

My apologies. I don't dispute the facts. As for faith, at the crux of a programme to remedy whatever-the-problem-may-be with immigration lies the degree to which suffering actually matters. Anxiety about immigration and the plight of the poor is not an attractive trait. I can't see your average punter wondering about what should be done. Immigration from outside the EU is controlled enough, the only possible problem is our obligation to the EU. The reparation matter is just sanctimonious moralism, as if our money would be worth anything by the time we printed off a load for 'em. Rather than make reparations we should develop our own industrial self sufficiency. Other countries can follow our example, if it suits. We're not obligated. Maybe we could stay in the EU but restrict immigration, don't some others?

The main block to doing so would be that such legislation couldn't be (unless the EU is up for more constitutional change) retroactive, so would still only apply to the two members it currently does: Romania and Bulgaria.

 

[durruti02]

As I've been saying again and again and again, the problem is ownership – of business and particularly land. Economic migration is a response to this. It is in fact a solution of kinds. To attack it makes no sense.

Anyway, this thread makes my head hurt. It's all topsy-turvy.

LBJ no one is attacking migration of itself .. they are attacking it to illustrate what you correctly describe .. surely you want a system where people do not have to migrate?

 

[Carousel]

I don't know. Migrants are as likely to be doing it for the promise of adventure as they are through what you might think of as proper coercion. It's a bit like drawing an ethical distinction between hunting for food and hunting for entertainment. It's a weak and arbitrary morality.

As I've been saying again and again and again, the problem is ownership – of business and particularly land. Economic migration is a response to this.

Yeah well, it would seem the "problems" of migration are a walk in the park compared to the grey celebration of mediocrity embodied in eschewing private property. We're under no obligation to mitigate the suffering of the poor, beyond containing the threat, I suppose.