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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (19084)	5/18/2006 3:33:49 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543340

I honestly don't know how fundamental this is. How could we possibly know whether to abandon the issue or not without looking at the costs and benefits of the elements involved? Well, if it really is an existential question, then cost is irrelevant, isn't it? We aren't going to do a cost/benefit analysis when our sovereignty is at stake. Oh, gee, the Russians are coming. Let's see if it makes sense financially to stop them... That's silly. I know you resist when I try to drill down to the essence of words, like yesterday with privacy and freedom, but I can't help it. What is the essence of sovereignty? It's about autonomy, self-determination as applied to modern nation-states. If you can't control who enters your sovereign state, it ain't very sovereign regardless of whether those entering are invading armies, terrorists, squatters, or trespassers. Sovereign states have laws and borders and border controls. It's pretty fundamental. There are some things that are just basic. Like queues. When people stop respecting queues, society takes a dive. The rule of law. If we give up on the principle of the rule of law we aren't the same country anymore. There are some things that are so basic that we let them slide at our peril. This is not about keeping people out. Said sovereign state can consciously to accept all immigrants and visitors and amend its laws accordingly. As long as the will of the state as regard to entrants matches what's happening on the ground, all's well with sovereignty. We could decide to open our doors as a solution to this problem. We could also decide to expand our state kinda like they've been doing in Europe--make all of North America one sovereign state or a confederation where folks move to and fro and will. But it seems to me that it's critical that we have self-determination regarding what goes on in our country. You may not buy that but I believe that strongly. I care less what we decide to do than about our making a conscious decision, not just float along aimlessly until we are overtaken by events.