A post to my friend, Ives.
Here's a part of my chat with another friend (in which I argue and believe that open borders or nearly open borders is good even if you grant the dark hypothesis about race and IQ).
I am a brown guy born in India to Indian parents (just to let people know so that they don’t think that I am biased toward any race or any ethnicity or any group or any tribe. I am sincerely not biased to any group or tribe, and I am sincerely writing this in good faith and love for all sentient beings). The chat is somewhat modified and edited based on some more info that I read after my chat. The ‘‘another friend’’ is not Ives.
Hey Ives, here's my chat with a friend on race and IQ and why I believe that even if you grant the hereditarian view fully (that people like me, brown and black people, have largely low intelligence genetically relative to white and east asian people), then still free market, free trade, and open borders is the right or correct view. I even grant that people like me are genetically more aggressive (but, of course, not literal goblin like aggressive from Goblin Slayer anime). [I also actually believe that people like me have lower IQs largely genetically and people like me are genetically more aggressive.... bad luck man. But again, of course, not literal goblin like aggressive from Goblin Slayer anime] I am not saying I, in particular, have low IQ and I am not saying I have high IQ. I never got my IQ tested. So, I don’t know what my IQ exactly is. I also don’t know how aggressive I am. I rarely fight verbally and physical fights are even more rarer such that I only remember physically fighting 11 to 13 years ago with another dude but then slowly we became friends.
[This post of mine is also the part 1 of my capitalism + open borders, race, IQ, aggression, and effective altruism series. I shall make more posts in favor of open borders or nearly open borders or open borders with keyhole solutions or qualified open borders view. Note that I support capitalist open borders or capitalism + open borders and NOT socialism + open borders.]
Here’s the part that is important or my main reply to my friend (“another friend”, not Ives) -
“Ok, thanks. Here's my reply to that -
(before i reply, note that I am talking about capitalist open borders and not socialist open borders because socialist open borders is where everyone gets lots of stuff for free like free food, free plane ticket for all, or free ship ticket for all, or free welfare for all, free healthcare for all, etc. Capitalist open borders just means free market, free trade, and will not just let people migrate with literally 0 costs like free plane ticket or something. And I am talking about open borders with respect to nations or countries and not private property. I also think that your view implies enormous deregulation of immigration restrictions or enormous loosening of restrictions of immigration already... so your view is much much more closer to open borders than status quo)
1. I think you probably already acknowledge that malnutrition and severe diseases like Malaria to children (in some cases) can lead to low IQ. So, letting Somalis in USA would increase the IQ given less malnutrition and also less suffering from diseases. Given the increase in average IQ of the world using open borders, we should support open borders.
2. It is likely that if genetic enhancement tech improves and becomes more and more easily available, the poor in USA will have quicker and greater access to it than Somalia or Kenya's poor. And also given that people will use it regardless of wokism (as you say), then it seems that we should open borders because people from Somalia and Kenya into USA will use those even if they are poor.
3. The population decline in high IQ countries should be countered with good incentives regardless of immigration. Because if population in high IQ countries keep declining then the result is at least the same as yours bad case scenario of letting in low IQ immigrants because it is people who matter and not geographic regions. If Sweden, Japan, South Korea, etc. fades away in the closed border world and you have people in Sub Saharan Africa who never had access to good institutions perpetually suffering in Sub Saharan Africa, then that is net negative compared to Open Borders scenario because even if high IQ population keeps decreasing, you still have good institutions that will take a while to corrode (assuming it is actually true that it will corrode) by sub saharan African people (assuming that these people will actually corrode those institutions). At least, countries with high IQ have historically strong formal institutions that do not corrode so easily. The current evidence from effective altruist organization GiveDirectly also shows that most poor Kenyans (who likely to have much much lower IQs) don't just waste money but they actually do invest and save and use it positively so the efforts of givedirectly works. So, that is good and that shows that informal institutions and norms are not necessarily terrible in Kenya. So, it is not clear at all that these poor people will hurt the high IQ institutions. In fact, it is likely that these poor people will get good incentives from the high IQ institutions and capitalism and they are net contributors to the economy. Furthermore, consider the case of India which is a nation Richard Lynn considers to have national IQ of 78 in his recent 2019 book - India is still developing nicely because due to Capitalism (it still has some bad socialist and protectionist policies) and good incentives high IQ people naturally get the high IQ jobs in the formal institutions and low IQ people naturally do the low IQ jobs. See also Morocco, Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana for low IQ countries improving decently (but slowly). See Argentina, Russia for high IQ or at least white countries that are suffering from various economic issues for quite a while (even before FEB 2022). Russia has similar nominal GDP per capita (just barely higher) as Mexico even though Mexico has relatively much lower IQ than Russia and Denmark [AND YES, THIS IS BEFORE THE EVENTS OF FEB 2022]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Mexico
4. When you say you want highly restrictive immigration for those who don't fit a certain profile, it is still important to consider the amount of suffering those who don't fit the profile would suffer or cause in their own countries. Given that countries with high IQ and strong institutions can handle them precisely because the strong formal institutions are filled with high IQ people and would be filled by them for quite a while, then we must take that into consideration. If low IQ bad people do bad things then just put them in jail or prison and make them work so that we can at least use whatever positive abilities they have to contribute to society. Note that I am not saying make them work or starve to death or anything like that. I am saying that those bad low IQ bad people in prison can be controlled and handled and don't need to suffer in their home countries from extreme poverty or civil war. The total utility of closed borders with people who don't fit the profile << The total utility of open borders.
5. Your view of migration restriction based on 'certain profile' implies restriction of migration between provinces or states within a country. Your view also leads to formation of consistent high concentrations of low IQ people in a given location leading to perpetual or near perpetual dysfunction and suffering because low IQ people would be either forced to do high IQ jobs which they are not capable or simply have no high IQ jobs important for maximizing wellbeing in those places because they are not allowed to move into high IQ places for jobs or work. It is the cities with lots of low IQ people and some or lots of high IQ people interacting naturally that leads to great production and increase in productivity as Capitalist mainstream economist Benjamin Powell and Alex Nowrasteh in their book said - (from pg. 54 of their book) "Boosting scale and agglomeration economies are also important mechanisms through which increased labor supply can lower firms' cost structures by increasing output levels and spreading fixed costs across larger quantities. This mostly occurs in cities with concentrated populations with highly skilled immigrants[high IQ] working alongside lower-skilled immigrants[low IQ]." Note that I know low skill does not necessarily correspond to low IQ. But low IQ people are very very likely to succeed in low skill jobs than high skill jobs. A low IQ person is likely to succeed as a Janitor than as a PhD mathematician. If you already think that evolution is a random process (or much more random than the good eugenics that human beings can practice) which is cruel and does not necessarily select for utilitarian outcomes like genetic enhancement and good eugenics would do, then letting evolution decide the fate of low IQ population by heavy restriction of immigration from low IQ places would be extremely horrible! At least they can have quicker access to genetic enhancement or good eugenics if they are poor in the USA than in Somalia. Also, did you know that IVF is comparatively more allowed in Islam than in Catholicism? So, it is more likely that immigrants from Somalia are okay with genetic enhancement than people in Vatican city. [I am not a Muslim by the way. I lean toward somewhat liberal Christianity that accepts universal salvation and that is okay with genetic enhancement and good eugenics. I was a Hindu and I also read just recently that Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism are much more okay with IVF than Catholicism or traditional or conservative Catholicism]
6. The Hutu and Tutsi conflict and Rwandan genocide shows that sometimes people can just believe in any identity because Hutu and Tutsi are actually the exactly the same or very very similar ethnicity. The Hutus believed that Tutsi are different ethnicity who is harming them. This was partly due to the fact that Belgium and German Empire formalized the race rhetoric with skulls, noses, and heights measured, compared, recorded, and ethnicity (Hutu or Tutsi) put on the identity card of Rwandan people. Right now, modern day Rwanda has the lowest crime rate in Sub Saharan Africa and is doing well compared to other countries in Africa.
7. The Bukele's El Salvador miracle does show that crime can be reduced significantly with some policies even in low IQ countries. (Search ''Bukele's miracle'' from that post of Richard Hanania)
8. The 'trust' literature in economics has been solidly or persuasively criticized by Alex Nowrasteh and Andrew C Forrester.
9. Closed borders will also prevent foot voting. Ilya Somin argues that foot voting is better voting than the normal democratic voting. Foot voting does not suffer (or at least suffers much less) from problems like rational ignorance and rational irrationality and public choice issues that modern day democracies suffers from. Even the low IQ person is incentivized to do cost-benefit calculations when they are thinking of migrating.
10. Closed borders is also likely to encourage bigger welfare state and more socialism within a nation than open borders.
11. This final point is related to recent info on climate change (I also pray that info is wrong... I was also not that worried about climate change like Sabine but now I am.) that is related to equilibrium climate sensitivity (or ECS) that Sabine Hossenfelder talks about in that video. The point is that climate change is more scarier problem than previously thought by experts and scientists (not the activist alarmists). If climate sensitivity or ECS of higher than 5 degree Celsius is true, then mass migration of people is going to happen sooner than later. And that mass migration is going to happen whether we like it or not because those low IQ people absolutely would not prefer dying due to heat. (even i would prefer to be shot in the head by a shotgun or assault rifle than die by heat). This mass migration is going to be much more bigger than any mass immigration happened in Europe and North America so far in the modern era. This mass migration is going to be much much worse for everyone UNLESS immigration restrictions are reduced significantly as soon as possible even for lowest IQ populations. Either the countries (suffering low impact from climate change) would just start killing the migrants on mass or they will have to accept them as climate refugees. Alex Nowrasteh also talks about how to reduce negative consequences of mass migration here.
Combining all the points above, friend, open borders is very very likely to raise IQ, let people escape socialism, let people boost capitalist economies, let more people access genetic enhancing technologies and good eugenics technologies, let people escape malnutrition, escape natural disaster prone geographic areas, escape civil war, reduce labor union power, reduce socialism. Migration is the oldest action against poverty and extreme suffering.
Join the open borders side, my friend. Free market and Free trade principles naturally support open borders between countries, nations, states. Capitalism naturally supports open borders between nations and countries or states
I would love to see your response to my reply.
Thank you
Best Wishes,
Rajat Sirkanungo”
As you have read above, I currently support open borders (with a few keyhole solutions). Just allow extremely easy permanent residency [PR] or permanent residency on arrival with little to no access to government welfare and no government healthcare (and if you care about fairness, then just let immigrants pay lower taxes because they get no government welfare and no government healthcare). Also, delay getting the citizenship, which comes with voting rights and government welfare and healthcare access, for extra 10 years or even 20 years. If all that is not enough, then let immigrants pay one time payment for PR (like 1000 dollars). If that is not enough, then charge more tax to the immigrants. Note that you cannot stop private charities from helping poor migrants. But for the love of God and humanity let people migrate to developed countries. Lots of lives shall be saved and lots of suffering shall be reduced with capitalist open borders in the both short-term and long- term. Wellbeing or happiness shall be maximized (both in the short-term and long term) with open borders.