By Darryl W. Perry, a candidate for the 2016 Libertarian Presidential nomination, at fpp.cc:
I recently read a pair of articles that on the surface are only tangentially connected. However after a little deep thought, I realized the authors are looking at the same problem from both a micro and macro level. The articles were “‘Buy Local’ is really bad economics” and “The economic case for open borders.” Again, after some thought I came up with the hypothesis: people who are xenophobic have a flawed understanding of economics.
Nikki Burgess, from Students for Liberty, writes, “Let’s begin with a basic economic principle: The more people an economy has, the more productive it can be. This appeals to common sense—given equal circumstances, 20 people working will create value more than 10.” For the sake of argument it doesn’t matter whether the 20 people live in one community or not. Those who oppose trade and/or immigration will argue that there may not be enough work for 20 people, and that some of the new people will work for less, thus putting someone out of a job. While that may be true in the short term, it is not true in the long term.
Burgess adds, “Economists agree that immigrants complement, rather than compete with, the native work force. Even assuming the opposite—that migrants and natives do compete for the same work—the estimated net benefit to natives from migrant labor is still $22 billion annually… Besides, competition is good; it ensures that the most productive candidates are employed and it makes goods cheaper by driving down production costs. However, empirically, immigrants and natives do not usually pursue the same work.”
On the macro level, Brian Brenberg & Chris Horst write, “History and research show that as trade increases, poverty decreases, and China is a prime example. Since 1978, when the country opened to foreign investment, China has grown to become the world’s largest trader – measured by total imports and exports. The results have been striking.
In 2012 alone, average factory wages in China rose 14 percent. In manufacturing, specifically, worker wages have increased 71 percent since 2008. Over the last thirty years, Chinese families living in extreme poverty dropped from 84 percent to under 10 percent.”
Of course, China is just one example of the benefits of trade. A report released in 2011 by Yale University and the Brookings Institution found that the world’s population living below the extreme poverty line plummeted from 52 percent to 15 percent in just 30 years from 1981 to 2011. Globalization and the spread of freer markets were credited with “enabl[ing] the developing world to begin converging on advanced economy incomes after centuries of divergence.”
Aside from being bad economics, xenophobia is also irrational. Advocates of “Buy Local” use slogans like “Don’t buy from strangers, buy from neighbors.” This may make people in small towns feel good, when they buy from the Mom & Pop stores, however one needs to look deeper. Chances are the products in the Mom & Pop store were brought in from somewhere, which means there was most likely trade with someone outside the community (i.e. a stranger). This is not a bad thing. The numbers don’t lie, when trade happens wealth spreads, and when wealth spreads everybody wins by becoming less poor!
it’s just plain ignorance, no matter what you call it.
Calling it “xenophobia” actually makes anti-immigrant bigotry sound more rational than it is. A uniform fear of or hostility toward strangers might be ignorant and unwarranted, but fear of the unknown is biological baggage that affects all of us, and at least a person with this attitude would be consistent.
But the fact is that the overwhelming majority of the hundreds of millions of people recognized by the U.S. government as “citizens” are just as much “strangers” to us as people from other countries. If you ran into one in the park, you wouldn’t know the difference — if you “profiled” a person as a citizen or non-citizen based on appearance, language spoken, etc., you’d be wrong a good portion of the time. So in fact those people who hold bigoted views toward migrants aren’t expressing some deeply felt fear of strangers, or if they are, they aren’t expressing it consistently.
Thank you Jill. That is beautiful.
I spent two days over the past weekend with Alan’s Cherokee group. The chief of a local tribe walked on, and Alan and I went to his service to show our respect. His tribe was deeply ingrained with a coastal town here called San Juan Capistrano (yes, the place where swallows return once a year.) Anyway, they had a tradition I was honored to be a part of: Many of his people walked behind the hearse that carried him to the cemetery. Streets had to be blocked off because of hundreds of people following the hearse. It was an awesome way to honor someone.
There was no political reason to share that, but I just thought I’d describe my recent experience. . .
Can’t say I disagree with anyone in this thread yet. Where’s our migrant bashing brigade? Come out and play…
PRICELESS!!!!! No apology wanted or expected!
Every hair on my body is standing and applauding; my English hair, my Irish hair and MOST loudly, My Cherokee hair and my Chickasaw hair!
I apologize if everyone already saw this:
…………………………………………………………………..
(I’m waiting in line behind a woman speaking on her cellphone in another language. Ahead of her is a white man. After the woman hangs up, he speaks up.)
Man: “I didn’t want to say anything while you were on the phone, but you’re in America now. You need to speak English.”
Woman: “Excuse me?”
Man: *very slow* “If you want to speak Mexican, go back to Mexico. In America, we speak English.”
Woman: “Sir, I was speaking Navajo. If you want to speak English, go back to England.”
Matt, misinformation is definitely a big part of it. 20 years ago, I had a much different view of immigration. I grew up in a very small town, where there were almost no immigrants. So, when I heard the MSM saying that almost all immigrants were either criminals or leeches, I believed it.
I eventually ended up spending about 10 years living in places where the vast majority of my neighbors were immigrants (some legal, some not). I quickly learned that immigrants are just like any other large group of people: some of them are good, some of them are bad.
Some of the laziest and most obnoxious people I have ever known were immigrants. However, some of the most polite and hardworking people I have ever known were also immigrants. I’d venture to say that most people who criticize immigrants as a group have had very little direct interaction with them, and are basing their opinions on media stereotypes, just like I once did.
Well, misinformation is probably a huge part of the problem too. Misinformation spread by Xenophobes.
The idea that immigrants, legal or otherwise, in any way, hurt the USA, is so ridiculous that I often wonder how anyone can believe it. Common sense tells me that the cause is Xenophobia, and nothing else. There is no other logical explanation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6U6_IC_GKQ
The pods are out to get me, too!
Seriously, I’m glad someone calls it out for what it is. Anti-immigration rhetoric has slipped into ignorance and hyperbole.
Of course. And thanks for bringing up the pods, now they will invade this thread as well and take over 😛
This is what I was trying to get at the other day, on the thread that somehow degenerated into a debate about “nonarchy pods” (thanks to you-know-who). Anyway, DP is correct: unrestricted trade and unrestricted immigration go hand in hand, and both greatly benefit the US economy.