Self Referential A&L

It’s old news – three days old when “Truth Hates Delay” – but A& L links to Fulford celebrating A&L Dutton makes 21st century “haste” with the eclectic curiosity of eighteenth century conversation; maybe man hasn’t changed much from the coffee houses of Congreve to Starbucks at Barnes & Noble, but the borders have.  Dutton teaches philosophy in Christchurch and the managing editor, Tran Huu Dung, economics in Dayton. This distance hints at the width of their interests – but then, its the nature of the net. He’s one of those people – it is one of those projects – that makes me feel lucky to live in the 21st century. I’m grateful – they make me laugh, make me think, and, by pulling together endless links, puts many the riches of the web within a click or two.  (Though of course one would think they’d include the incomparable Chicagoboyz on their blogroll.) Of course, it’s seductive – always beckoning with far more charm than grading papers or cleaning house.

A Very Good Immigration Post

Opponents of the wall genuinely think that sealing the border is impossible–at least those in the mainstream do. Furthermore, if they refuse to even entertain the notion that sealing the border is possible a) they will never be proven wrong; and b) their adversaries will never be proven right. And it doesn’t hurt that their stance will make them the favored choice at the polls for the very vocal hardcore believers who think that any attempt to close the borders is a betrayal of their ideals.
 
The argument that X is an intractable problem so we shouldn’t even try to fix it is kind of an odd argument for the left to be making, considering their faith in social engineering. Yet it’s become their fallback position in recent years.

Read the whole thing.

I was wrong about immigration, at least the politics of it. I thought the political divisions would force the competing constituencies into some kind of messy but reasonable compromise that would be an improvement over the current situation. Instead, one side used dishonest arguments and raw political leverage to try to impose its preferred outcome on everyone else, which further radicalized opponents and alienated many citizens who might otherwise have been sympathetic to Bush’s approach.

Whether a real compromise, the status quo or some kind of smaller and more incremental reform is now more likely is anyone’s guess.

Photo



(Click the photo to display a larger version.)

Location: The lower left side of the big U in the photo here.
 

The Nature of Dictatorships

It seems like there are a lot of people these days who justify–or at least make excuses for–dictatorships. “Well, it’s true there are some things you can’t do,” goes one typical line. “But if you steer clear of politics, you’ll be just fine.” Dictatorships are justified based on many purported benefits, including suppression of internal violence, enabling economic development, and above all “stability.”

Mario Vargas Llosa talks about what dictatorship really is and what it does to people.

Related: Ralph Peters takes on the “stability is always good” argument. I have related thoughts here.

Vargas Llosa link via Neptunus Lex.