This is the second of a series of weekly posts with the most interesting content from the Open Borders Action Group on Facebook. Do join the group to weigh in on existing discussions or start your own (you might want to read this post before joining).
- Does giving people factual information about the proportion of immigrants change their views on whether there should be more or less immigration? There wasn’t enough data to resolve the point.
- Is there a meaningful distinction between political and economic refugees? It was argued that countries might be willing to take political refugees because the size of the potential refugee flow would be bounded. It was also agreed that political refugees who faced immediate and significant threats to their lives did have a stronger claim to the right to migrate.
- What’s a good response to the reductio ad anarchism response to open borders? The general consensus was that open borders is consistent with anarchism, but does not entail anarchism. Just as opposition to slavery or imperialism could be argued within both anarchist and mainstream-statist frameworks, so could opposition to arbitrary border restrictions.
- Is anybody interested in creating short videos about open borders? People suggested a range of options.
- Why is public opinion in Sweden more pro-migration than most other First World countries? (based on data from Nathan Smith’s post Who favors open borders?). Sweden’s general egalitarian nature and people’s desire to see themselves as generous were cited. It was also argued that historical luck may have played a role: past and present anti-immigrant parties were widely viewed as kooky or evil (due to their other, non-migration-related beliefs), so mainstream parties sought to distance themselves from overt opposition to migration.
- What is the expected value of open borders advocacy? It was argued that even though open borders is unlikely at present, it takes decades of “tilling the ground” to make sure that open borders happens swiftly once it becomes politically feasible.
- Does interacting with migrants make people more pro-migration or anti-migration? There was a hypothesis in the post and some more discussion in the comments, but no clear consensus.
- What is some research on the long-term political, social, and economic impact of migration? The post is recent and more comments are needed. Please add your own comments there.