The Southern Border

The US is Drowning

Borders are a necessity in our current reality


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The Libertarian Party is having a major debate about immigration right now. 

Here are my thoughts:

A completely open border is the purist libertarian-anarchist position.  

However, the Libertarian Party and anyone running for office under the LP banner are not ultimately aiming for the title of “Purist Libertarian in the world.”

They are running for President of the United States, Congress, Governor, State Representatives, or local offices. These are all US government positions with jurisdiction that supposedly use a constitutionally framed rule book. The assumption of campaigning for a government office that has jurisdiction is that borders are a necessity in our current reality. Unless you are of a globalist mindset.

We can obviously all cite ways to reduce migration of those seeking freebies instead of freedom. We should end all incentives like funding for housing, medical care, education, food, phones, etc. That’s the easy part and it makes a wall irrelevant for the majority of people crossing over illegally because it wouldn’t be worth the journey. 

If people cross illegally, it’s for a few different reasons. The two mentioned above, welfare and asylum are just a piece of the puzzle that proponents of a controlled migration are concerned with. The other issues are terrorism and invasion. The current invasion isn’t a traditional warfare we are used to being vigilant about. But it’s been effective in many places in Europe. Enemies are crossing not with weapons, but with open hands and a culture not likely to be compatible with maximum freedom. 

Legal migration is a different issue. Less restrictive, easier immigration would actually be a benefit. But it’s the illegal migrants who are negatively impacting people who come here for the right reasons and are vetted to not be obvious threats. Plus, the current open border crisis is also causing unnecessary resentment towards any legitimate newcomers. 

Freedom of movement is a major libertarian issue. But so is self-defense and that’s the only legitimate function of a government. 

As Dave Smith says “Ron Paul, Murray Rothbard, Hans Hoppe, Stephan Kinsella, Tom Woods, Lew Rockwell all reject open borders.” In fact, all libertarian leaning folks that have successfully won a major election have not been for open borders. 

“The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law.” -- Ayn Rand, in Atlas Shrugged 

Again, is what we are seeing at the southern border not an invasion? 

Another issue libertarians value is fair competition. When you are drowning, you can’t save others. You have to help yourself first. 

The US is drowning. 

Since we are not globalists looking to export freedom, or a people looking to be forced to take on the burden of other nations, we as American libertarians need to understand national borders aren’t going away. If we are to be the number one nation in the world where people can live freely, we have to prevent the boat from taking on more water than we can handle. 

Yes, privatization of the border, abolishing the Fed, ending the welfare state, and ending taxation would make some of these concerns off the table. But they aren’t going away anytime soon. If we libertarians want to appeal to others looking to break away from the corrupt political system, we have to make sure we live in reality, not just in our philosophy. //


link to my article about immigration: Mass Migration Doesn't Work




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