“It is unfortunately none too well understood that, just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own. All the power it has is what society gives it, plus what it confiscates from time to time on one pretext or another; there is no other source from which State power can be drawn.” ~ Albert Jay Nock

My recent post on the GM-loan-gate has, thus far, generated some interesting feedback and at least one or more epic discussions on various social networking sites.  Aside from enjoying my joke, several people commented on the paragraphs which highlighted several talking points which have troubled me over the last few years.  This one in particular, on immigration, seemed to generate the most feedback:

“Illegal immigration represents a danger to the future of the U.S.”  (The U.S. didn’t even have a comprehensive set of regulations on immigration until 1952.  The Constitution doesn’t even mention immigration in those terms.  Hell, damned-near everyone in the U.S. except for the people who were already here when America was “discovered” is an immigrant or descended from one anyway.  Here’s my question:  When does an immigrant become a visitor or a guest?)

It might be that since Arizona—and Arizona’s governor is currently in the news—that the issue is particularly hot, which therefore made the discussions far-ranging.  Immigration policy generally seems to be a hot-button.  Having written several pieces on immigration, I admit that the subject fascinates me, but something about these recent debates, particularly among libertarians, has intrigued me even more.

One is often tempted to attack the objections to open borders directly, as did I and a number of guests on a recent radio show.  And certainly many of these objections seem ripe for attacking.  By the way, are bumper stickers with “every Mexican who comes to the U.S. illegally is only 15 minutes from welfare” being passed out?  I would hate to miss out on my chances to get one.  Just as popular, but new to me is this one:  “In Los Angeles, 98% of convicted murderers are illegal aliens.”  Uh-oh!  Better raise the fence!  It strikes me that anyone who thinks welfare is an enticement for immigration must have never visited their local department of social services.  Take the worst parts of the DMV and add in ample portions of emasculation and denigration and you’re starting to get close, but it’s still worse than that, on good days.

It occurs to me—finally—that one needs to take a step back to even begin to understand this issue.  For example, of what value is a border?  Specifically, why does the United States have a border and why is it so necessary to maintain it?  Hopefully examining this more general issue will yield insight into the specific issue—and current political hot-button—illegal immigration of Mexicans.  Let us explore a couple of examples, one simple and one a little more complex.

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