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I happen to live in a country that is an attractive place in which to live.
Consequently many people from less happy countries – Iraq, Iran,
Afghanistan and Sri Lanka for example – would prefer to live in
Australia than in their own countries.
Do people have a moral right to move from where they are unhappy to where they have a greater chance of happiness? Do the people already in the happier places have a right to keep others out, for fear of lessening their own happiness, or even lessening the happiness of all in their land? What constitutes a 'right' in questions such as these? A point that concerns me in particular, is whether immigrants from an unhappy country might bring with them a contagion that spreads unhappiness. Is it possible that immigrants from Afghanistan, for example, will bring with them the brand of Islam that many seem to want to practice in that country and that seems to be the cause of much misery, discrimination, cruelty and ignorance in Afghanistan and other places where Islam is practiced? It is tempting to think that in a perfect world everyone would have the right to move anywhere they liked at any time they liked. But some thought will show that this is naive. Aggressive people, those who want to prey on others rather than making an honest and harmless living, will alway be advantaged by moving to where peaceful people have built up good lives. Personal freedom must be limited where it infringes on the rights of others. |
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| The world is over-populated, Australia is relatively less over-populated than is the world as a whole, but still has too many people and will suffer as petroleum supplies decline. Our present way of life will not survive Peak Oil and every extra migrant will add a little more difficulty in the transition to a more sustainable civilisation. |
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I fear the spreading of contagious and contaminating
memes such as Islam.
Art is one of the noblest of human achievements; the depiction of any living thing in art is discouraged or disallowed to a Muslim. The understanding of the Universe that has come from the advancement of science is, in my mind, the greatest of all human achievements. The loss of science, rationality and reason is possible should Muslims ever become the dominant group in Australia; decent into ignorance and superstition could follow. (In general Muslims are one of the greatest groups that do not accept the reality of organic evolution, for example.) |
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Historically, people who live in a region have effectively had some form
of 'ownership' over their region; it has been generally accepted that
they had some sort of right to keep invaders out.
Immigrants could well be considered to be peaceful invaders.
More recently, and more humanely, it has been accepted that people have
a right to flee from a region where they are in some sort of danger at least
into nearby, safer, areas.
There is obviously a clash between the two ideas: the right of a people to
hold onto what they have and the right of other people to seek a safe
refuge.
The concept of Land-ownership is involved. |
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| 'Boat people', the so-called illegal immigrants, do not come to Australia from a country where their lives are in danger; while they might have originally come from places like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, they almost always come to Australia from Indonesia, where, while they might not be comfortable, they are in no danger. This being the case, can they truly be called refugees, or rather are they migrants seeking a better life? |
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Economic refugees Introduction Top What right to keep people out? Why fear immigration? |
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