Almost Everyone Quotes



The open borders position may sound new and radical, but it is simply a call for the return of lost liberties. When the Statue of Liberty was erected in 1886, most of the world’s borders could be freely crossed without passports. Passport requirements had sometimes existed before and were still in place in backward Tsarist Russia, but the more liberal governments of advanced European nations regulated migration, as modern democracies regulate speech, only rather lightly and in exceptional cases, if at all. Comprehensive restrictions on international movement, which almost everyone today regards as a normal and necessary government function, are really an innovation of the twentieth century, which emerged as liberalism gave way to nationalism and socialism in the wake of World War I. Although the reasons for border control were The open borders position may sound new and radical, but it is simply a call for the return of lost liberties. When the Statue of Liberty was erected in 1886, most of the world’s borders could be freely crossed without passports. Passport requirements had sometimes existed before and were still in place in backward tsarist Russia, but the more liberal governments of advanced European nations regulated migration, as modern democracies regulate speech, only rather lightly and in exceptional cases, if at all. Comprehensive restrictions on international movement, which almost everyone today regards as a normal and necessary government function, are really an innovation of the twentieth century, which emerged as liberalism gave way to nationalism and socialism in the wake of World War I. Although the reasons for border control were often explicitly racist—such as the national origins quotas of the 1924 U.S. Immigration Act—the restrictions were also motivated by bona fide national security concerns, as well as a desire to protect native wages and welfare states from immigrant competition and foreign dependents.


Most Americans do not realize that for most of Amrcan history there has been open borders with little or no restrcition on immigration. These that there were tend to be rembered becuse of the populism, nativism and unrest taht went with them.


He and Bowles were the two leaders of the Presidential National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The commission recommendations to put the nation on a sound financial footing involved sacrifice by almost every sector of American society—everyone would have to give up something that they valued. So the initial reaction of almost every interest group was to oppose the plan. Over time however, there was a realization that unless the burden would be borne by some and not by others, the plan was reasonably fair. It illustrates the initial reaction of Americans to reform proposals is to retain all the benefits that they have and have others give up their benefits.