Nel suo saggio “My Path to Open Border” Bryan Caplan sintetizza bene cos’è l’emigrazione per un economista:
… free immigration is just free trade applied to labor…
Dici poco. Caldeggiare politiche “free trade” è una delle poche cose che la pseudo-scienza economica è in grado di elargire con un minimo di sicumera.
Limitare l’immigrazione significa costruire gabbie…
… immigration restrictions trap hundreds of millions of people in Third World poverty…
C’è però un problema di “fatti” e “percezioni”: la libera migrazione smussa le diseguaglianze ma ce le fa percepire più profonde poiché le porta più vicine a noi.
… immigration would drastically increase global wealth and drastically reduce global inequality… visibility of the remaining poverty and inequality would sharply rise…
A chi teme minacce al nostro welfare, il libertario risponde pronto…
… When critics pointed to the existence of the modern welfare state, I was dismissive: “Yet another reason to abolish the welfare state!”…
D’altronde, chi si erge a difensore del welfare volendo frenare “l’invasione” fa un ragionamento capzioso…
… If immigrants are a burden on the welfare state, for example, why not simply restrict immigrants’ benefit eligibility instead of restricting immigration itself?…
Non accusate i libertari di crudeltà solo perché vogliono tagliare il welfare nostrano. Non sono crudeli, semplicemente prediligono altri mezzi per stemperare le diseguaglianze…
… Libertarians are cruel because they oppose involuntary redistribution from rich to poor? But what are immigration restrictions– supported by mainstream liberals and conservatives alike– if not involuntary redistribution from poor to rich?…
I libertari sono insensibili perché tollerano la discriminazione? Calma…
… Libertarians are callous because they oppose laws against discrimination? But what are immigration restrictions if not laws that make discrimination…
Dal punto di vista etico le frontiere aperte sembrano essere la soluzione vincente…
… On immigration… all serious moral theories appear to support open borders. If everyone’s utility counts equally (utilitarianism), if we should treat everyone as an end in himself (Kantianism), if social institutions should maximize the welfare of the worst-off group (Rawlsianism), if inequality is intrinsically bad (egalitarianism), if it’s wrong to ban capitalist acts between consenting adults (libertarianism), how can anyone justify prohibiting poor foreigners from selling their labor to willing domestic employers?…
Opporsi all’immigrazione è come opporsi alle nascite, e infatti lo schema mentale degli anti-natalisti è lo stesso di molti anti-immigrati: il mondo è un gioco a somma zero…
… most voters probably have a zero-sum model of immigration: More jobs for immigrants automatically means fewer jobs– and lower living standards– for us. Economists, in contrast, know that these zero-sum intuitions are wrong. Specialization and trade are the keys to prosperity– and civilization itself…
Da un punto di vista etico che differenza c’è tra i limiti all’immigrazione e l’appartheid sudafricana o il Jim Crow americano?
… I really do consider existing First World societies to be morally comparable to the Jim Crow South. Worse, actually. Under Jim Crow, blacks couldn’t legally do some jobs or live in some places in the country. Under modern immigration law, illegal immigrants can’t legally do any job or live anywhere in the country…
Limitare l’immigrazione è una violazione di un diritto fondamentale, almeno per chi non è disposto a mettere la politica nazionale prima di tutto…
… Immigration laws deny very basic human rights: The right to accept a job offer from a willing employer… The predictable result for people born on the wrong side of the border is severe poverty and worse…
Ci vogliono ottimi motivi a dir poco per procedere ad una simile violazione con relativa condanna alla povertà…
… The best social science finds that the alleged downsides of immigration are greatly overstated at best, and often the opposite of the truth. For starters: Immigrants make Americans and the world richer…
Le scienze sociali che hanno studiato e studiano il fenomeno da sempre non vedono affatto questi “ottimi motivi”, semmai riscontrano il contrario…
… The best social science finds that the alleged downsides of immigration are greatly overstated at best, and often the opposite of the truth. For starters: Immigrants make Americans and the world richer…
In ogni caso proibire sarebbe una soluzione troppo radicale…
… Even in worst-case scenarios, there are cheaper, more humane remedies. If immigrants are really a fiscal burden, you don't have to prevent immigration. Just make them ineligible for benefits…
Per schematizzare il problema della libera immigrazione giova sottoporsi ad un esperimento mentale: immaginate che la presenza di una sostanza preziosissima (che allunga la vita all’uomo) venga segnalata sotto l’ Empire State Building. Il suo valore è inestimabile. Come procedere per recuperarla?
Molti saranno atterriti da come questa nuova ricchezza possa alterare gli equilibri del pianeta. Preda di queste paure alla fine prenderanno posizione per lasciare la strabiliante ricchezza laddove si trova adesso. Ma la persona di buon senso non potrà mai aderire ad una mentalità catastrofista che avalla un simile spreco! Ecco, lo stesso vale per la libera immigrazione: c’è una ricchezza fenomenale che puo’ riversarsi sul mondo e noi di fatto ci opponiamo al suo recupero accampando ragioni capziose…
… Imagine scientists discover a new substance that reverses aging… Some years later, though, the scientists discover a trillion dollars worth of Leonium directly under the Empire State Building… During this brainstorming process, a few naysayers fret about the distributional consequences of success: "Only the rich will benefit."… "Unprecedented longevity will undermine government retirement programs." "Nursing homes will lose jobs."… But most people scoff at such parochial and misanthropic negativity. Getting Leonium is a great benefit for mankind, period… Economists already know how to extract many trillions of dollars of additional value from the global economy. How? Open borders… Under the status quo, most of the world's workers are stuck in unproductive backwaters… The standard reaction, instead, is naysaying. "First World workers will lose." "Only the rich will gain." "They'll all go on welfare." "Our culture will be destroyed." "The immigrants will increase crime." The underlying attitude is not frustration at the difficulty of realizing mankind's full potential, but sheer apathy… My point: Apathy in the face of unrealized multi-trillion dollar gains is absurd…
Molti reagiscono all’invasione” dicendo all’immigrato: “sistema le cose a casa tua piuttosto che venire qui!”. Anche in questo caso, per comprendere l’assurdità di un simile rilievo giova sottoporsi ad un esperimento mentale…
… Suppose your Facebook friend, John, is a political junkie. Every day, he floods your Newsfeed with the latest political news and op-eds. He provides play-by-play coverage of protests and rallies around the globe. He travels hundreds of miles every week to personally attend these events… After a while, though, you start to wonder about John. How does he hold down a job? You soon discover that John lost his job years ago - and hasn't bothered to find another… When criticized, John angrily responds, "I'm too busy fighting tyranny to feed my family." I think you'll agree that John is a terrible human being. Why? Because his priorities are demented. Political activism is a luxury. Before you engage in this luxury, you must satisfy your basic responsibilities to provide for yourself and your family… When I point out that would-be immigrants are trying to save themselves and their families from hellish Third World conditions, my critics often respond, "They ought to stay home and try to fix their broken political systems!"… The case against activism is even stronger if, as usual, the activist is deeply confused. Knowing that your country's policies are awful doesn't magically tell you how to improve them….
Chi pensa alla politica prima di sfamare i figli è un disgraziato. Ma è proprio quello che chiediamo di fare all’immigrato!
Il libertario è visto da tutti come un estremista: vorrebbe abolire il welfare state facendo macelleria sociale.
Eppure l’argomento etico è molto forte: se non sei legalmente tenuto a mantenere i tuoi genitori come puoi essere tenuto a mantenere un estraneo?
… Almost no one thinks you should be legally required to financially assist your relatives - even your indigent parents who raised you. The welfare-state abolitionist can fairly ask all of these people a tough question: If your parents shouldn't have a legal right to your help when they really need it, why should complete strangers?…
Ma soprattutto: l’esistenza del welfare è un ostacolo all’immigrazione, ovvero alla realizzazione di un welfare più equo…
… Second, and probably even more compellingly, the existence of welfare state is one of the main rationalizations for undercutting the greatest anti-poverty campaign the world has ever known: immigration. (Friedman said it most clearly: "You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state." But Krugman's in full agreement)…
Aiutate i veri poveri e non i relativamente poveri!
… Libertarian defenders of immigration are the real humanitarians in the world, and the laissez-faire era of open borders without the welfare state was America's real humanitarian era…
Se il welfare per voi è intoccabile accogliete gli immigrati come cittadini di serie B ma accoglieteli!
… I'm the first person to say that there are better ways to save the welfare state than curtailing immigration. If that's your worry, let immigrants come as guest workers - entitled to work but not collect welfare…
Se il problema è il welfare la soluzione ottimale è facile: non dare agli immigrati alcun diritto al welfare…
… Suppose, for example, that the complaint about immigrants is that “They take advantage of the welfare state.” If that’s the problem, the simplest solution is not the get rid of immigrants, but to make them ineligible…
Se il problema è la famiglia la soluzione è semplice: non dare diritto di voto agli immigrati…
… What if the complaint is that immigrants endanger our political culture– in short, that they vote the wrong way? I’m sympathetic to this concern, but it’s easy to tailor a solution: Don’t let immigrants vote…
Il problema è la concorrenza che gli immigrati fanno ai “nostri”?: tassate il salario degli immigrati…
… Which takes us to the biggest complaint of all: Immigrants depress the wages of low-skilled Americans…
Si tratta di politiche discriminatorie? Meglio discriminare che escludere completamente.
Sentiamo spesso dire: “Dio, Patria, Famiglia”. Questo vuol forse dire che chi difende la famiglia è tenuto a difendere anche la nazione e quindi a limitare l’immigrazione?
No. Famiglia e nazione sono concetti ben diversi. La famiglia è qualcosa di naturale, tanto è vero che non occorre coercizione per preoccuparsene…
… Familial favoritism is a deep and ineradicable part of the human psyche… But you need coercion to make people surrender more than a pittance to their "fellow citizens."…
Inoltre, il familismo non giustifica i crimini che pretende di giustificare il nazionalismo…
… There is however a less obvious, but far more important difference between nationalism and familial favoritism: Despite its mighty evolutionary basis, almost everyone recognizes moral strictures against familial favoritism. Almost everyone knows that "It would help my son" is not a good reason to commit murder, break someone's arm, or steal… Nationalism, in contrast, is widely seen as an acceptable excuse for horrific crimes against outgroups. Do you plan to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent foreign civilians?… The surprising lesson: familial favoritism isn't just inevitable; it's basically benign. People know that this fundamental emotion is no excuse for ignoring the rights of strangers. Nationalism, in contrast, is at once phony and dangerous…
Al pro-immigrazione viene detto: parli così perché vivi ai Parioli e non a Tor Bella Monaca. Ok, ma quelli di Tor Bella Monaca parlano così perché non vivono nella periferia di Nairobi. Forse dalla campana di vetro non si vede bene tutto, ma qualcosa trapela… .
… 1. I see immigrants - legal and illegal - working hard, without complaining… 2. I see immigrants - legal and illegal - contributing far more to the world than they could possibly have done at home… 3. I see natives happy to hire and patronize immigrants… 4. I see that people call me out of touch because I live in Fairfax instead of in a poor immigrant neighborhood. But they don't think themselves out of touch because they live in America instead of the Third World… 5. I see that almost all natives break the law on a regular basis. Almost everyone drives over 55 mph on the freeway, for starters. But few natives feel guilty about breaking laws that seem unreasonable… 6. The typical illegal immigrant who "went back where he came from" would drastically reduce his family's standard of living and make the world a poorer place. If following the 55 mph speed limit is unreasonable, so is following U.S… 7. If the typical low-skilled immigrant stayed home and tried to improve his political system, he would have near-zero chance of success…8. Virtually all of the complaints leveled against immigrants also apply to many natives. I see that native women who enter the workforce make life harder for native men competing for the same jobs…
Molte lamentele circa l’ingresso dei migranti sul mercato del lavoro si adattano anche a quello delle donne. Perché usare un doppio standard?
Chi si oppone all’immigrazione dovrebbe anche opporsi alle politiche sulla fertilità:
… Most arguments for immigration restriction are equally good arguments for government regulation of natives' fertility. But I see that almost everyone favors immigration restrictions, and almost no one favors fertility restrictions…
Escludere provoca povertà e morte. A questa accusa si risponde che lasciar morire è ben diverso che uccidere. Risposta utilitarista:
… Utilitarian response: drowning children If the cost of saving a person’s life is very small, then letting the person die is equivalent to killing…
Risposta libertaria…
… Libertarian response: forcibly preventing people from helping themselves is akin to murder…
E’ difficile comprendere la differenza tra i limiti all’immigrazione e le politiche di discriminazione razziale più dure…
… It was illegal for blacks to live, work, and shop in certain places. Virtually everyone today regards this as an enormous injustice. So do I. But I question the claim that modern American policy is vastly morally superior. The American government continues to mandate discrimination against an unpopular minority: illegal immigrants… there were many places in America where blacks were not legally allowed to live. Under current immigration laws, there is nowhere in America where illegal immigrants are legally allowed to live… there were many jobs in America that blacks were not legally allowed to perform. Under current immigration laws, there are no jobs in America that illegal immigrants are legally allowed to perform… You could object that our moral obligations to citizens are far higher than our moral obligations to foreigners. But that's hardly satisfactory. After all, the essence of the segregationist position was the American blacks were not fully-fledged American citizens… (a) stripping blacks of their citizenship, and (b) declaring that "All citizens are entitled to equal treatment." Would that have made the Jim Crow laws any less reprehensible?…
Per molti libertari l’incubo peggiore è la “tirannia della maggioranza”, ma le politiche migratorie per molti rappresentano la realizzazione di questo incubo. Esperimento mentale…
… The median voter wants to deprive you of the rights to (a) accept a job offer from a willing employer, or (b) rent an apartment from a willing landlord. Politicians eagerly oblige the median voter, so legally speaking, you're an unperson… In all my years of arguing about immigration, I've never met an opponent paranoid enough to make such a claim… Strangely, though, political externalities of this severity already exist. There are countries that vote to deprive most people of the rights to sell their labor and rent a place to live. In fact, this is the political equilibrium in every First World democracy…
L’immigrato puo’ produrre esternalità negative, ma anche positive. In molti casi queste ultime sono anche maggiori rispetto a quelle prodotte da un nativo…
… If an additional infant born in America has positive externalities, asks Adam Ozimek, shouldn't an additional immigrant who moves to America have positive externalities, too? Since the average immigrant age is around 30, that means when they've arrived they are already past the stage when they just consume society's resources, and have begin producing externalities. Doesn't this suggest that positive externality of immigrants is even larger than that for natives?… keep in mind that immigrants are also more likely to be small business owners and PhDs than natives…
Da ultimo: con le loro rimesse gli immigrati aiutano il terzo mondo e questo, indirettamente, è anche un nostro aiuto. Spesso ha il pregio di essere più mirato e meno sprecone.
