| | There is a surprisingly xenophobic view among some otherwise Capitalist/Objectivist intellectuals that the open, unrestricted immigration policy of laissez faire Capitalism (as best presented in Dr. George Reisman's Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics) would lead to an invasion and takeover of the semi-capitalist United States, or as Dr. Reisman expresses it: "The ... objection to the freedom of immigration is a noneconomic argument to the effect that it means turning the country over to foreigners and thus destroying its language and culture".
Dr. Reisman continues: "The fact is that for a capitalist country the opposite is true. The freedom of immigration is the principal means of extending the language and culture of such a country. For the immigrants come voluntarily, in order to take advantage of freedom and to benefit themselves. They come with the knowledge that they are now in a better country than the one they left behind, and so are well disposed to learning its language and absorbing its culture. And because they come from many different lands, each with its own language, the language of the new country is the logical common ground for them to choose in dealing with one another. Learning it is also virtually indispensable for practical success, since almost all of the existing wealth of the country is in the hands either of its native inhabitants or of earlier immigrants who have learned the language to be able to deal with the native inhabitants. It was in just this way that English came to be the language of tens of millions of people who originally did not speak English; people who, along with learning English, made the most important parts of Anglo-Saxon culture their own, such as the idea of the rule of law and the sanctity of private properly.
"The immigrants, of course, do not merely absorb their new country's culture. They help to make it better. They contribute to it not only all their business, scientific, and artistic achievements, and what is valuable in their own heritage, but, perhaps most important of all, a constantly renewed sense of personal ambition and personal achievement. They are a fresh inspiration in every generation.
"The fact that while two hundred years ago English was the native language of perhaps 12 million people out of a world population of 1 billion, and is today the native language of over 350 million people out of a world population of about 4 billion, is due principally to the existence of the freedom of immigration into the United States. The ability of the United States to become the leading economic and military power in the world would not have been possible without its freedom of immigration, which both attracted the numbers and powerfully contributed to their per capita productivity. Had the United States adhered to its policy of free immigration--along with the rest of its freedom--it is probable that today it would have a population approximately twice as large and a standard of living at least twice as high as the population and standard of living it presently has. As such, it would so far surpass any combination of external powers as to be absolutely unassailable." (end of quote from Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics)
Before continuing, let me recommend Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics to all who are serious about understanding the nature of laissez faire Capitalism. Now that it is available on inexpensive CD-ROM, there can be no excuse for any serious Objectivist not to have and read it. It is available at The Jefferson School at http://www.capitalism.net/
The idea that some culture could flood us with immigrants, take over and subvert our political structure is xenophobic, racist, conspiracy theory at its worst. Those who continue to advance such a theory should check their premises because the theory, which defies logic, also does not hold up against the evidence of history. All of the evidence from the history of free immigration in this country refutes such a theory. It makes for nice horror fantasy stories, but little else.
In spite of large communities of Islamic and other religious groups in the United States, none has been able (nor foolish enough to attempt) to repeal the First Amendment, even on a local level. Even the dominant Christians have been unable to do accomplish such a feat, which, of course has not prevented them from trying. An argument could be made that we need more non-Christian immigrants to counter recent attempts by Christians to subvert our freedom of religion heritage.
Furthermore, immigrants that I know personally, leave their monolithic, state enforced religious countries and welcome the opportunity to cease practicing the religion in which they were raised.
The idea that free immigration will allow the Chinese to invade and take over our country (or Australia, which has the land mass of the US and the population of California) is also ludicrous. Any member of a Chinese "immigrant invasion" force would need survival resources such as food and housing. If the Chinese government could provide these resources, it would not need to send this hypothetical immigrant army, and if it could not provide the resources, the immigrants themselves will embrace the opportunities that a Capitalist country would offer to free themselves from their tyrannical past, as described by Dr. Reisman above. U.S. history has shown that such is the way that free immigration does indeed work in the real world.
Dennis Wilson
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