> If the quality of life was unsustainable without immigration, what makes it sustainable with?
Think of it like (internal) trade, it's a win-win. I've been reading about Brexit recently. It's super easy to convince uninformed UK voters that "look the EU is benefiting from trade with us, so if we stop trade we can take all their benefit and keep all our benefit" ... That's not how it works. In the real world it's like Taiwan specializes at chips, China specializes at solar, India specializes at medicines, etc everyone brings something unique to the table and we ALL benefit from working together. It takes a lot of balls to leave your original country family/friends/etc. Immigrants are usually high quality people, it's best to just let them work.
> Current immigrants come from countries with high population growth. When their population growth slows down, will they get their immigrants too?
1) How is that your problem? Have you ever been worried about China not having enough immigrants before? The US is extremely well-positioned to win this one.
2) Yes there will be increased competition for immigrants, but it's really not a bad thing. I'd love it if the UK was politically stable so I could just move over since the US keeps trying to elect Hitler.
Thank you for your reply as I posted my comment in part with the hopes to have my view changed. But I don't think you really addressed my concerns.
1. I support globalization and the specialization of countries. Taiwan specialising in chips is one of the major reasons china hasn't annexed it yet.
2. I am pro immigration in the sense that anyone should be free to move to any country that they choose.
3. I am not worried about china's immigration policy as I don't think they encourage immigration.
4. I am ambivalent to increased competition among immigrants, competition will always be present.
What I'm arguing against is the notion that developed countries need immigration. Why should any one country need it? Immigration should be welcomed to those who align with the values of the country. Want to be a devout Muslim? Move to the middle east. Love Confucianism? Move to an east Asia. Want American style freedom? Move to the US. But when a nation is not able to sustain their quality of life solely with the resources they possess, requiring immigration to prop themselves up seems like a desperate move and only kicks the proverbial can down the road to future generations.
I think there's always going to be people who would rather be "VP marketing" over "parent". When you have an entire nation of DINK (double income no kids), it must age and therefore it must import immigrants to keep the treadmill going. Must keep ahead of China, after all.
The older I get the more I kinda want to retire from that lifestyle and move to Spain or something. It's much easier to move than to try convincing Americans anything about healthcare or parental leave or any of those socialist policies.
That's great that you have your plans sorted out. I'm working in a HCOL area and plan to move to a more relaxed place for retirement myself. The thing is, neither of us would be part of the immigration that is necessary for a continued QOL.
In the extreme case of an entire nation of DINKs, that nation will cease to exist as it once was. It I think in some sense, having kids is like paying for social security. If an entire society does not have kids, then who are they to demand that their quality of life remains? In fact, it feels a little selfish to me that they did not wish to bear the burden to child rearing, yet ask for others to maintain what they did not work to keep. Perhaps this makes childbirth seem too transactional, but I believe it has always been somewhat the case.
It's a shame that the world is a rat race. Why worry about letting China race ahead when they subject themselves to so much stress that the younger generations are "lying flat"? The race to more wealth as an indicator of a good life sounds too convenient to be true.
Current immigrants come from countries with high population growth. When their population growth slows down, will they get their immigrants too?