Synopses & Reviews
From the stony streets of Boston to the rail lines of California, from General Relativity to Google, one of the surest truths of our history is the fact that America has been built by immigrants. The phrase itself has become a steadfast campaign line, a motto of optimism and good will, and indeed it is the rallying cry for progressives today who fight against tightening our borders. This is all well and good, Philip Cafaro thinks, for the America of the pastand#151;teeming with resources, opportunities, and wide open spacesand#151;but America isnand#8217;t as young as it used to be, and the fact of the matter is we canand#8217;t afford to take in millions of people anymore. Weand#8217;ve all heard this argument before, and one might think Cafaro is toeing the conservative line, but hereand#8217;s the thing: heand#8217;s not conservative, not by a long shot. Heand#8217;s as progressive as they come, and itand#8217;s progressives at whom he aims with this bookand#8217;s startling message: massive immigration simply isnand#8217;t consistent with progressive ideals.
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Cafaro roots his argument in human rights, equality, economic security, and environmental sustainabilityand#151;hallmark progressive values. He shows us the undeniable realities of mass migration to which we have turned a blind eye: how flooded labor markets in sectors such as meatpacking and construction have driven down workersand#8217; wages and driven up inequality; how excessive immigration has fostered unsafe working conditions and political disempowerment; how it has stalled our economic maturity by keeping us ever-focused on increasing consumption and growth; and how it has caused our cities and suburbs to sprawl far and wide, destroying natural habitats, driving other species from the landscape, and cutting us off from nature.
In response to these hard-hitting truths, Cafaro lays out a comprehensive plan for immigration reform that is squarely in line with progressive political goals. He suggests that we shift enforcement efforts away from border control and toward the employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. He proposes aid and foreign policies that will help people create better lives where they are. And indeed he supports amnesty for those who have, at tremendous risk, already built their lives here. Above all, Cafaro attacks our obsession with endless material growth, offering in its place a mature vision of America, not brimming but balanced, where all the different people who constitute this great nation of immigrants can live sustainably and well, sheltered by a prudence currently in short supply in American politics.
Review
and#8220;Cafaroand#8217;s work is highly original, focusing on a question that most liberals, as well as libertarians, studiously avoid, and showing that it is the key question that they must be pushed to consider. At the same time it is balanced, drawing on the work of both supporters and detractors. Indeed, Cafaroand#8217;s treatment of this controversial subject is calm and even-tempered, deploying his few barbs only where they are truly justified.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;An articulate and readable book about a subject too long ignored, even considered taboo, in American public policy: overpopulation. Cafaro provides convincing arguments that Americans cannot create an ecologically sustainable society with twice as many people, or successfully combat growing economic inequality while flooding labor markets with millions of poor and desperate job seekers. A wake-up call for progressives to rethink immigration matters and support policies that further the common good.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Dealing with immigration to the United Statesand#8212;legal and illegaland#8212;is of the utmost importance, because immigration is the biggest driver of our explosive population growth, which is the biggest plight we face. Cafaro is our most trustworthy thinker and writer about immigration matters, because he does not demonize immigrants but rather sympathizes with them, while clearly showing that continued high immigration will be deadly to American wildlands and wildlife, as well as to our culture of liberty and tolerance. Read How Many Is Too Many? to understand the tangled problem of immigration.and#8221;
Synopsis
How many immigrants should we allow into the US annually, and who gets to come?and#160; The question is easy to ask, but hard to answer, for thoughtful individuals and for our nation as a whole. Philosopher Philip Cafaro answers the question as a political progressive who, perhaps surprisingly, wants to reduce immigration into the United States.
Cafaro details how current immigration levelsand#151;the highest in American historyand#151;undermine attempts to achieve progressive economic, environmental and social goals. He shows and#160;that by thinking through immigration, liberals can get clearer on their own goals. These do not include having the largest possible percentage of racial and ethnic minoritiesand#151;but creating a society free of racial discrimination, where diversity is appreciated. They do not include an ever-growing economyand#151;but an economy that works for the good of society as a whole. They most certainly do not include a crowded, cooked, polluted, ever-more-tamed environmentand#151;but a healthy, spacious landscape with sufficient room for wild nature. Finally, liberalsand#8217; goals should include playing our proper role as global citizensand#151;while paying attention to our special responsibilities as Americans. Like it or not, those responsibilities include setting US immigration policy.
About the Author
Philip Cafaro is professor of philosophy and an affiliated faculty member in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University. He is the author of Thoreau's Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue and coeditor of Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation.
Table of Contents
Chapter One. Good People, Hard Choices, and an Inescapable Question
Chapter Two. Immigration by the Numbers
Chapter Three. The Wages of Mass Immigration
Chapter Four. Winners and Losers
Chapter Five. Growth, or What Is an Economy For?
Chapter Six. Population Matters
Chapter Seven. Environmentalistsand#8217; Retreat from Demography
Chapter Eight. Defusing Americaand#8217;s Population Bomband#151;or Cooking the Earth
Chapter Nine. Solutions
Chapter Ten. Objections
Chapter Eleven. Conclusion
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index