One of the most entertaining aspects of the open borders dogma is observing the cognitive dissonance its devotees require in order to sustain their belief system. Mass immigration fetishists, by their very nature, are constitutionally incapable of recognizing irony, and a perfect illustration of this fact can be found in the pontifications of Bryan Caplan, one of the most fervent-albeit, least persuasive-advocates of permanently altering the demographic composition of the developed, Western world.
His most recent contribution to the stereotype of oblivious mass-immigration enthusiasts comes in the form of a post to The Library of Economics and Liberty blog which castigates those morally relativistic conservatives who lionize the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus. It’s doubtful that Professor Caplan will bother to read the replies made by EconLog readers in response to his denunciation, but if he did he would find a number of cogent points, chief among them the idea that the European empires represented by the great explorers embodied the spirit of open borders ideology, arguably even more so than Bryan Caplan himself.
Something not pointed out, but equally pertinent to this discussion, is that the laissez-faire immigration policies of this country prior to the 20th century, and extolled by open borders fanatics at every opportunity, were crafted by the descendants of the colonizing parties Mr. Caplan abhors. The animating ethos of open borders dogmas is, after all, the infallible conviction that the feelings of other people are inconsequential if a certain person-or a large group of people, in most cases-find life in your country preferable to life in their countries of origin.
For an interesting perspective on Christopher Columbus, we’ll be linking to a classic piece by the late, great David Yeagley, Comanche warrior and indefatigable American patriot, who had his own thoughts on the voyage some are celebrating today.
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