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Comment by oldmanjay | Hacker News Reader

The calls for restricted immigration are certainly politically motivated (mainly variations on "I don't want them getting mine") so what's the difference? National borders mean less and less all the time. Clinging to them to weather this upcoming economic storm is like using an anchor as a liferaft.

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Almost no one in the US is calling for restrictions on immigration.

Really now? No one? [edit: You added almost, I can almost agree now ;)]

Tougher border control is restrictions on immigration. Why do you think various billionaire nutjobs want to build a great wall of mexico?

No, it's not. It's enforcing current immigration policies.

Moving towards an open borders would be changing restrictions on immigration.

That's not true. The border has always been open for people to pass freely for centuries. Restricting border crossings would be a change in immigration policy. I don't think it's necessary.

And then we decided that having government, taxes, social programs, ect were necessary. You are free to feel otherwise, but the issue of society vs anarchy has been firmly resolved.

We already had gov't, taxes and social programs. It may not be apparent to you, but homesteading on indigenous lands was a social program. I'd love to see if you could make 4X the salary and 2X the quality of life by migrating to another country if you'd change your tune. I hope your rigid rules of society always apply to you and your descendants.

But I'm guessing you're ok with the folks who migrated to North America. Just not ok when those same people move around their own continent.

https://www.numbersusa.com/

So why not let the entire population of Africa move to the United States? Borders are an antiquated concept according to you.

Why not let the entire population of California move to Rhode island?

Wait, who is preventing the entire population of California from moving to Rhode island?

I'm not aware of any regulations that forbid anyone from moving to Rhode island from California, except for things like house arrest or other things requiring someone to stay in one place.

What argument are you trying to make? It is not clear.

Just because borders are open does not mean that people will immediately move.

That said, CA and RI have similar quality of life, but Africa and North American probably do not. So CA/RI is not a good example.

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