Writes Ralph Raico:
2:29 pm on June 17, 2011John Hospers, the distinguished philosopher and libertarian scholar and sometime political activist, has died at the age of 94.
I met John only briefly, two or three times, but I was familiar with his well-reasoned and jargon-free works.
I did not always agree with his views, especially on foreign policy. However, when I came to edit an issue of the Journal of Libertarian Studies (vol. 13, no. 2) I asked him to contribute an article. The result was, to my mind, a brilliant success: “A Libertarian Argument Against Open Borders.”
John sets forth, one after the other, all the various arguments against open borders a libertarian might raise. He was a southern Californian, so he was highly aware of the problems that virtually unlimited immigration presented for that part of our country (now for all of the United States). He noted that many people hesitate to visit Tijuana, right across the border, on account of its rampant crime and wretched social conditions. Not to worry, he added ironically, “now they have it here.”
To this erudite and civilized man, I say: John Hospers, Rest in Peace.
