Ponder the implications of this for mass Muslim migration into Europe. And those implications are by no means solely economic.
“Coming to America: REVIEW: ‘The Culture Transplant’ by Garett Jones,” by Charles Fain Lehman, Washington Free Beacon, December 11, 2022:
Imagine that you are a U.S. immigration officer, handing out green cards to the would-be Americans of the world. You have before you two applicants who look almost completely the same; for some arcane, unspecified bureaucratic reason, you can only approve one of them. They’re both well-educated by American standards, both bringing identical families, both passed their background checks.
The major difference is their nation of origin. One is from a nation with a strong tradition of rule of law, free markets, and democratic pluralism. The other is from a country where kleptocracy, autocracy, and socialism are standard. The difference, in other words, is the character of the society that your two would-be immigrants come from. The question is: Should this difference matter?
The basic argument of The Culture Transplant, the new book from George Mason University professor Garett Jones, is that at least in the aggregate, the answer to this question is “yes.” The marginal immigrant, to be sure, may not matter. But Jones shows, through an engaging and digestible tour of the academic literature, that people bring their national character with them when they migrate; that those values persist for up to several generations; and that some values really are better for societal flourishing than others, so the values immigrants bring matters a great deal.
To reach this conclusion, Jones relies on a fairly diverse set of evidence. Much of the basis for his argument, though, is drawn from the so-called deep-roots literature. That research, in essence, looks at what today’s countries were like 500 to 2,500 years ago, in terms of level of governance, agricultural development, and technological development. It observes that what a country was like hundreds of years ago is a strong predictor of how developed it is today. More to Jones’s point, it observes that what a country’s people were like hundreds of years ago predicts what they are like today.
The point here is that, for whatever reason, certain fundamental facts about a civilization—i.e., its level of development—are both highly relevant to its performance on the centuries timespan and transplantable from one place to another. One plausible explanation is that whatever determines this outcome inheres in the people from those civilizations, who carry it with them and “transplant” it wherever they migrate.
Indeed, Jones reviews extensive research that shows immigrants often look more like their ancestors than the countries they arrive to, even several generations after arrival. If your ancestors believed in things conducive to development—social trust, cooperation, fairness, etc.—then you probably do too. And those beliefs matter for how the country you now live in does.
What are the concrete implications of this view? Jones offers two. One is that the countries with the highest rates of innovation—China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States—should be extremely cautious about changing the population composition through migration. These countries produce the overwhelming majority of the world’s progress, and if progress is a function of your country’s composition, then we should care a lot about keeping their current mix, because otherwise all of humanity loses out….
gravenimage says
How migrants make the economies they move to a lot like the ones they left
…………………………………………
It depends–certainly, some migrants have created better economies than the ones they left. This is true of many immigrants to the US during the 19th and 20th centuries.
But if a group of immigrants has a culture–or especially, a religion–that tells them that hard work is fit for no one but slaves and that the should violently exploit any people not members of their faith, as Islam does, then this will *not* work out well for the host nation.
That is the situation with Muslim migrants to Western nations now.
James Lincoln says
gravenimage,
100% correct.
No rational American is against immigration – as long as we bring in the right kind of immigrants.
People who share our values, desire to fully integrate – and add value to our country.
libertyORdeath says
As a descendent of European immigrants, I can understand your position. But comparing the America-hating economic migrants who massively drain our overly-generous welfare system to the mostly Western European immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries is like comparing apples and figs.
We already have at least 30 years of this disastrous Anti-American immigration policy, but I don’t see ANY of the benefits that we saw from European immigrants of the past.
There’s no Muslim or Central American Nikola Teslas, Albert Einsteins, or Joseph Pulitzers out there as far as I can see.
Also remember that the European immigrants came when American offered basically ZERO welfare and social services. They lived in cramped tenement housing with sometimes dozens of other people in a single room. They worked 12 or more hours a day FOR YEARS, even having their children as young as 6 years old working to make ends meet. On top of that, they were actually GRATEFUL for the chance to live in the greatest country in the world and RESPECTFUL of American laws, culture and heritage.
Compare that to the illegals coming today…
They HATE America, but want to take advantage of our generosity.
They lie about being supposed refugees, then go home on vacation.
They drain our welfare and school systems.
They hope to enforce islamic blasphemy laws on Americans.
They are given preferential treatment as a member of a “minority” and take jobs from deserving Americans
They bring their cultural proclivities with them and force it on Americans
None of this was true of the 19th and 20th century European immigrants. The “land of immigrants” claim is propaganda from globalists, leftists and the cheap labor lobbies who value profit over Americans or their culture.
The only way to fix America is to STOP ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, deport all illegal immigrants, and SEVERELY LIMIT “legal immigration.” Are we gonna keep letting this cabal replace non-compliant Americans with foreigners who have little to no understanding of our rights? Are we gonna wait until the American military is re-staffed with foreigners and woke opportunists who will have no issues with enforcing martial law or stripping American citizens of their God-given rights? We already have somewhere between 50 – 100 MILLION foreigners and illegals here…how many more must come before we face this existential threat to our country?
Sorry I went a little far with the response. My concerns about possibly the biggest threat to America just kept snowballing in my head lol.
GLOBALISM = SLAVERY
Hank says
I don’t think left-wing politicians and the majority people that vote them into office realize or even ponder the implications of importing Mohammedans and Islam into their infidel (non-Muslim) societies. They keep voting for people that encourage and facilitate it. Importing Mohammedans with their alien Islamic luggage and mindset, by the millions under whatever guise it is called, is suicidal for any infidel nation. The question now is when do you want to experience the “Fall of Constantinople” on May 29, 1453 – today?
The decline is now full-circle starting with the decline from within initiated by the woke crowd, and ending with decline from without initiated with the import by the millions of an alien Islamic culture and mindset. Now that we have come full-circle the future isn’t bright, it doesn’t end well. (Zephaniah 1:2-6)
Alkflaeda says
One issue that is worth looking at, is whether family members are present. If you are genuinely a desperate refugee fleeing a terrible situation – why would you leave your wife, children or dependent parents behind to suffer? Furthermore, if a refugee demonstrates that he cares about family, it implies that he knows how to care, how to relate – both useful abilities for his new life. And, if he brings a wife, he might be slightly less interested in aberrant sexual activities based on the life of a 7th century warlord.
libertyORdeath says
Allowing the leftist/globalist alliance to convince overly-kind Westerners that bringing in people who are fleeing their home country because they VOTED FOR THE POLICIES THAT DESTROYED THEIR COUNTRY is a good idea is suicidal.
Notice all the German, Italian, Chinese and Hispanic enclaves we already have in the US?
Well now picture no-go zones populated with Somalis (already have it in MN), Pakistanis, Indian Muslims, and North African Muslims. This is where we’re heading with policies like so-called “immigration reform.”
As I’ve said before, anytime u hear or see the phrase “immigration reform” just know that it means MORE immigrants being imported to take American jobs, MORE amnesty for illegals, MORE “legal” extraction migrants, MORE chain migration, MORE anchor babies, MORE illegals at the border, and MORE disenfranchisement of American citizens and especially voters.
Thanks to Robert and the crew for NOT censoring me like many other so-called “conservative” websites that claim they support free speech.