Immigration: Pave Your Own Way

There are so many platitudes about immigration--some cloaked in sincerity, and others completely meaningless.

The truth really isn't that complicated. The answer is not open immigration, or a closed society. The answer is a free society. A free society is one in which everyone is self-responsible. Being self-responsible means you're free to make your own way, but you're also responsible. It's the kind of society we would be if there were no massive welfare state; no massive public education bureaucracy requiring endless taxation to support it; no pressure group warfare in which some groups (for racial or other reasons, never stated) could keep others out.

My solution is simple: pay your own way. If you do so, you're in. In fact, you're not only in; you're welcome. We all benefit from a society in which everyone is self-responsible. What if someone needs help? That's fine. I have nothing against help. But even in gaining help, you're responsible for obtaining that help voluntarily.

This, I know, is a radical idea. It didn't start out this way in the United States, but it has become that way. Not only does the notion of self-responsibility not apply to many of today's immigrants; it doesn't apply to the great majority of non-immigrants, either. But it's the solution. Those of you fighting for a certain kind of immigration policy are fighting the wrong battle. Fight for what I'm advocating here, and immigration policy will take care of itself.

Dr. Michael Hurd is a psychotherapist, life coach and author of Effective Therapy (New York: Dunhill, 1997) and Grow Up America! Visit his website at: www.DrHurd.com.