Pez4Life Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 Today on the conservative Mark Levin radio show, I heard him say that Ayn Rand "rejected open borders," and I think that is an inaccurate statement, however I can't find any specific statements from her on the subject either way. Can anyone tell me if she did in fact oppose open borders or not? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2046 Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 (edited) Mark Levin is a master Straussian, so that's not surprising. I have heard him call Rand “a great thinker” then turn around and call her a “libertarian extremist” and a kook. It was his mentor Bill Buckley that actually ridiculed Rand for supporting “open borders:” “The idea of totally open borders—anybody who wants to can come on in—is the stuff of libertarian fancy, nice for tone poems by such as Ayn Rand, but not very good national policy.” Objectivism upholds "open immigration" or "free immigration," that is, totally free movement of goods, money, people, etc. within the sphere of individual rights. Perhaps the term "open borders" could be rejected as a neocon smear term or anti-concept, as private property would be protected from trespassers obviously, and people would have to enter official ports of entry rather than the conjured image of people waltzing across the border wherever they please that the term implies. But there would not be any tariffs, exchange controls, or barriers to free trade or migration of any type. The primary Objectivist thinker in this issue is Harry Binswanger who has written some good articles on the topic. Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4620 The Solution to "Illegal Immigration" http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4675 (Craig Biddle) Immigration and Individual Rights http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=5138 Edited April 12, 2010 by 2046 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pez4Life Posted April 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Mark Levin is a master Straussian, so that's not surprising. I have heard him call Rand “a great thinker” then turn around and call her a “libertarian extremist” and a kook. It was his mentor Bill Buckley that actually ridiculed Rand for supporting “open borders:” Objectivism upholds "open immigration" or "free immigration," that is, totally free movement of goods, money, people, etc. within the sphere of individual rights. Perhaps the term "open borders" could be rejected as a neocon smear term or anti-concept, as private property would be protected from trespassers obviously, and people would have to enter official ports of entry rather than the conjured image of people waltzing across the border wherever they please that the term implies. But there would not be any tariffs, exchange controls, or barriers to free trade or migration of any type. The primary Objectivist thinker in this issue is Harry Binswanger who has written some good articles on the topic. Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4620 The Solution to "Illegal Immigration" http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4675 (Craig Biddle) Immigration and Individual Rights http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=5138 Yeah, that's what I thought. I know that Objectivism upholds free immigration, however the term 'open borders' is what had me slightly confused, because as you said the image you generally get is people running across the border rather than people coming across in an orderly and secure fashion as would actually be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Yeah, that's what I thought. I know that Objectivism upholds free immigration, however the term 'open borders' is what had me slightly confused, because as you said the image you generally get is people running across the border rather than people coming across in an orderly and secure fashion as would actually be the case.I searched the "Objectivism CD", and the term "open border(s)" does not appear anywhere. The search for "border" near "open" also revealed nothing. Even a search for "immigrant" and some variations turned up nothing except some letters by Rand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wynand Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 I've always been fond of the story (not sure if it's true) of Reagan and Gorbechev. The Russian Premiere was criticizing America as a communist would, and Reagan responded by saying something like "How many people die trying to get into your country? Oh, that's right! They die trying to get out!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kainscalia Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 You may also look into the book "Facets of Ayn Rand," where she answered "What would have become of me, if the United States had had a closed border policy?"- her friends knowing what she meant: she would have perished in Russia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydstun Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 There is an informative article with data from 1939 to the present on "Americans' Views on Refugees Coming to U.S." at Gallup here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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