"Why should a truck driver in Zambia have an income that is one tenth or maybe one twentieth of the bus or truck driver in the US? It’s the same work, same effort, same intelligence, maybe same education. And then you say, clearly it is not equal." 3/3

"...But then you open the Pandora's box when you say, “Okay, how does it work on a global level?” 2/3

The overwhelming lesson of history is that elites, thanks to their deep investment in & attachment to the status quo, *wait too long*. By the time something happens that's stark enough, bad enough, it's too late.

You stand up at one of these early line crossings ... or you watch your country go.

YIMBYs should take the logic of “more neighbours” to its conclusion- more Canadians. This means if someone is trying to escape injustice and danger as a refugee, we should welcome them, not ask, “what’s in it for us” (national interest).

Loved the response to Robertson but I also think you have your own luxury opinion on immigration. The idea that allowing refugee, “low skilled” and family reunification migrants is a “symbolic” priority, not a hard one deeply rooted in their wellbeing is the ultimate luxury opinion.

And that should include refugees, family reunification migrants and 'low skilled' migrants along with the favoured high skilled migrants.

Of course, this means we REALLY need to build housing for people. Housing skeptics that are pro immigration need to grapple with the consequences of our housing shortages. It makes convincing others to welcome immigrants much harder.

This framing is arbitrary and backwards. If we take the inherent moral worth of someone as equal regardless of their place of birth, and therefore favour their needs equally, surely we would face some rather “hard” truths when it comes to immigration, particularly re: refugees.

Lombardi frames favouring the needs of those already living in Canada (the national interest) as “hard priorities” while prioritizing the needs of refugees, family reunification immigrants and “low skilled” economic immigrants are “symbolic” priorities.

Lombardi shares his own ‘luxury belief’ that immigration policy can be separated from morality. He says that immigration is “not a virtue” but “a policy”. But all policy is rooted in some normative value, as Lombardi himself shares when he says imm policy “should serve the national interest”.

I'm down. Do we know just borrow the set and set up our own bookclub?