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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022

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If you hold that consensual transactions are generally good, whereas non-consensual taking is generally bad, then there needn't be any tension between opposing colonialism and supporting open borders.

As you note, colonialism violates people's individual rights by one group subjugating another against their will, expropriating their rightful property and reducing or eliminating their rights.

An immigrant entering a country need not do any of these things. He can enter into entirely voluntary transactions to obtain housing, employment, etc. These are transactions where everyone involved is happy to participate and ends up better off; no one's rights are violated.

It is also conceivable that a group of immigrants could band together into a political bloc and use their collective political powers to "colonize" the native population and take away their rights. But there is no particular reason why such an outcome is inevitable or likely. Moreover, such an outcome can occur without any immigration, such as if a country's native protestant population banded together to oppress its native Catholic population. The free movement of people across borders does not require the formation of group identities nor does it require any group to oppress any other group.

The free movement of people across borders does not require the formation of group identities...

Every case of significant immigration I'm aware of has resulted in the formation of group identities for the immigrants. Claiming that such formation is not "required" may be technically true, but fails to account for the evidence we actually see.

...nor does it require any group to oppress any other group.

Leaving aside the question of how to define "oppression, It's obvious that mass immigration often results in some level of conflict between natives and immigrants, and that such conflicts can both grow quite severe and be very long-lasting.

And sure, this doesn't have to happen. Similarly, car wrecks don't have to result in significant injuries. Why is this a useful way to address the underlying concern?

Every case of significant immigration I'm aware of has resulted in the formation of group identities for the immigrants

I don't think anyone can dispute that, but then there's the question of whether those group identities are at serious odds with the native one (beyond the small degree of natural friction that seems unavoidable).

supporting open borders.

What level of consent from natives is sufficient for the immigration being consensual ?

51% of the natives ? 66% ? 100% ?

.01% aka the monarch says "I invite ze Germans; this is now consensual?"

As you note, colonialism violates people's individual rights by one group subjugating another against their will, expropriating their rightful property and reducing or eliminating their rights.

Historically a lot of that has occurred but modernly a lot of things that I see criticized by being called "neocolonialism" don't involve nonconsensual transactions per se

I think most of what gets labeled “neocolonialism” is not colonialism and is basically a good thing. Global trade has lifted enormous numbers of people out of extreme poverty in the past few decades.

I agree. But it is the case that there is a loud faction that is strongly opposed to neocolonialism and I think OP makes a good point that this faction mostly overlaps with people who support open borders and that does seem like a bit of a contradiction