Hoppe’s article was interesting. In the original American idea, there was to be no such thing as US citizenship but only state citizenship, which would make the Swiss analogy work, since Switzerland is roughly the size of Maine. Apart from that, it is hard to see how the Swiss case with limited space and high population relates to the case of the US, which is mostly empty. As for the populous areas where immigrants tend to live, it is not business which is taxing people for roads and public services but rather the state; business is paying the bills, and not only for roads etc but also for health care through mandated benefits. Many of these costs are in fact paid by the businesses doing the employing. As for discrimination laws, they are pushed (for the most part) not by business but by the state as a weapon to use against business in order to force the merchant class to operate as a agents in the state’s social plan. As for schools, there are places where immigrants seem to use more public services than they pay for such as places on the border. But in other places (Midwest, South, Pacific Coast) schools they are largely paid for by homeowners, including immigrant homeowners. Thus does any attempt to prohibit business from hiring immigrants (and Hans did not actually advocate that) only multiply the amount of coercion taking place.

The Best of Jeffrey Tucker