Why the left needs to make a positive case for immigration.

The issue driving the nationalist right is immigration and the reasons why are obvious. The mainstream right can no longer defend its economic principles on its own terms because free trade and trickle down economics have not enriched the lives of ordinary people. A rising tide sinks most boats and an unregulated market means debt slavery.

The right can't become progressives and blame the bosses so they need to scapegoat others, particularly others who are not like us.

Immigration is blamed for everything: low wages for working class people, strained public services, crime etc. This disguises the fact that (UK context) wages stagnated long before the biggest immigrant wave and that government has defunded public services as deliberate policy.

Being anti-immigration seems to have an outsider chic which is utterly undeserved. 'Nobody is allowed to talk about immigration' even though virtually everyone does. The mainstream media give tacit acceptance to anti immigrant views as 'genuine concerns' as do plenty of mainstream politicians. The white working class is talked of as a distinct minority group when non white members of the working class share the same hopes, dreams and material conditions. Blaming immigrants is punching down and also dividing people.

Owen Jones makes some good points about the economic benefits that overseas people bring. He also says that human stories matter and I agree. The most pro immigration places in my country are those with the most immigrants. If a person of colour is your doctor, your shopkeeper or your friend then you are not gonna take Daily Mail scare stories that seriously.

It's a powerful and popular narrative but compromising with it just makes things worse. Liberal politicians can never outdo the populist right on this issue and will never be taken as the real deal by people they are trying to impress. All the time, this strengthens the frame of the far-right and allows the Overton window to move further into dangerous territory.

So make the case for immigration. To win this battle, we first have to fight it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/20/immigration-force-for-good-labour-migrants

CopperCicada · M

Not everything is economics.

The people I know who are anti-immigrant are broadly anti-immigrant.

They aren't just against illegal immigrants on economic grounds. They are against even legal immigrant and children of immigrants who maintain the cultural roots.

The superficial reason is said to be economics, but it's really cultural. They don't like the cultural change that these people bring. They don't like the idea of living together with these people and their children going to school with these people and even marrying them.

From what I can tell select groups are fixated on, like Salvadorans and Guatemalans coming through Mexico, or Muslims through the travel-ban countries-- but the taboo of political correctness makes it impossible to admit they just don't want "different kinds of people" in their communities.

That can be Congolese or Russian Orthodox Jewish refugees. That can be your most recent Hispanic illegal or a 3rd generation Cubana who kept her language and culture.

These people don't like it.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@CopperCicada I agree that it has a purely cultural aspect to do with identity and fear of change.

The scandanavian countries are holding up well economically but anti immigrant sentiment there is as bad as anywhere. Spain has had major austerity and the far right is marginal.

Though economics is a big factor in most places.

Thanks for the contribution because it adds to the debate. I post long things sometimes but even I can't include everything I think.