January 27, 2023

The Louis CK argument for open borders: "It shouldn't be so great here."

59 comments:

Sebastian said...

Not totally sure if he's trying to his "comic" shtick, but: saying the quiet part of prog border policy out loud.

It shouldn't be so great here, because it just shouldn't be, and because we don't deserve to be great, and because we are only great at other people's expense, and because even if we're not great we're still a lot better than all those sh*t hole countries that shall not be named so it's only fair that the poor and huddled brown masses come here to raaacccist Amerikkka, fentanyl in hand and trafficked children by their side, to make things even less great. It's the prog telos. Dems want it.

Ice Nine said...

Yeah, why should we have a good, secure life here in America? We were just randomly given it, after all. Totally unearned. Strictly the luck of the draw, ya know.

>"What will happen? Will they just come with knives and start killing everybody?"<

I would refer Louis to the Brits for the answer to that question.

n.n said...

Emigration reform to mitigate progress of [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform (CAIR) and collateral damage at both ends of the bridge and throughout.

Luke Lea said...

The problem is that mass low-skilled immigration depresses the incomes and living-standards of the least-skilled and most vulnerable Americans, blacks disproportionately, even as it further increases the income of those who are best off, whose incomes are derived from their possession of capital, including human capital: the richest and smartest, who are a minority. Same goes for our current trade policies, in which labor-intensive manufacturers are virtually forced to move to low-wage areas in order to compete (and hence survive) in a competitive marketplace.

It is indeed a class war of the smart and privileges against the poor and clueless majority. If only we had a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but we don't. We are ruled by cosmopolitans instead.

Leland said...

Ah, it always acceptable to hate Christians. That speech is well protected, even when coming from wanker Louis CK.

BarrySanders20 said...

There he goes, jerking off again. The no-borders crowd is mal-informed, misinformed, misguided, and ignorant of our current system, basic human nature and history. You cannot have both a welfare state and open borders. But it's good to hear half-baked ideas as it exposes the absurd.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

New Zealand has ultra strict immigration.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Louis CK's opinion should not be allowed within 1 yard of any immigration discussion.

He's done shot his load, and he's official firing blanks from the hip.

Butkus51 said...

he should have been burping the worm while saying it.

iowan2 said...

Govt social programs should not be available.

I thought I had learned that 100 years ago, to immigrate and become a citizen, you had to be self sufficient, speak English.

Seems like a low bar minimum.

Iman said...

Something else you can choke your chicken to, Louie.

rcocean said...

I won't click on the linK, but let me guess. The multi-millionaire liberal/leftist Louie CK thinks anyone who wants to should come here. No restrictions. Why? Because Louis CK benefits from cheap labor and high housing prices and is insulated from all the blowback. Also, he's probably a dual citizen.

And he doesn't care about America. And he thinks the immigrants will help turn the USA even further to the Left.

That's the standard wealthy Hollyweirdo position.

n.n said...

Immigration reform, in lieu of emigration reform, is compelled under Springs without borders, Green deals (e.g. environmental arbitrage), social progress, labor arbitrage, and to compensate for planned parenthood and other dysfunctional orientations that are first-order forcings of progressive viability.

boatbuilder said...

The thing is, miserable and unfair as it may seem, life for the people who live in the countries where American corporations offshore their operations is actually significantly improved by the availability of work and wages--even low wage, long hour "sweatshop" work. When you shut down the "sweatshop," the people who worked there--voluntarily (however compelled by economic necessity) have no alternative but subsistence. Which for most is literally "dirt poor." The rural poor--especially the young-- want to go to the cities--the factory is the way they do it. (This was also true in the US, back when the US had factories).
And the corporate sweatshops are typically a huge improvement on the prevailing work climate. I seem to recall seeing a brief video of cobalt miners. Do you think those people do that because they like outdoor work and they couldn't get a job on the farm?

FullMoon said...

My attitude used to be that if a guy walked a hundred miles and crossed a desert to get here, that person will be a good worker. And, if an illegal had been working for years, or owns a business, that person deserves citizenship.

Now I must wonder where tens of thousands, or, more are going to work? Where do they live immediately upon arrival? How do they afford food, shelter and transportation?

Dave Begley said...

That jackoff doesn’t make sense and isn’t funny. He needs to go away.

Lilly, a dog said...

When does he ask Rogan whether he can wank it in front of him?

Josephbleau said...

Luke Lea's comment is correct. Why did the "Great Migration" from the South occur? Because the factories in the North wanted cheap labor. The children of slaves left the South when agriculture became mechanized, share croppers were no longer required.

Slaves to White and Black share croppers. Share Croppers to Auto Workers. Auto workers to UAW. UAW to Korean Cars.

Gusty Winds said...

If you open all borders, you then introduce the elimination of the Nation State. That's a huge paradigm shift for all civilization. Border security and controlled immigration for everyone's safety and interests, especially the immigrants, is necessary. So that part was political fantasy on his part. You can see his play.

But he's right about people dying for American "comfort". And nobody is more sick of that shit than MAGA. That's true.

I like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's take, which was posted here a month or two ago. Quit exploiting them and let them live off the riches of their own land. Importing them for cheap western civilization labor isn't moral.

Georgia Meloni and Louis CK agree on most of this. The French and the gold mining thing in Africa is crazy. America's thirst for drugs keeps the drug cartels in control of Mexico.

Our thirst for Global Warming and COVID virtue signals has made the world suffer more than anything currently. MAGA doesn't own or participate in that.

Josephbleau said...

Louis CK does not want to immenentize the eschaton, he wants to immenentize the deluge.

I am reminded over and again of Heinlein:

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as "bad luck.”

BUMBLE BEE said...

Couple more years of woke activists it won't be so great here.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Maybe even less.

rhhardin said...

That cheap foreign labor sees it as a step up from much worse poverty that was the alternative.

Mike Petrik said...

@iowan2 -- Your "100" does a lot of heavy lifting. Until 1922 the US essentially had open borders. It did work out very well, but the existence of today's welfare state is a serious complication.

Rabel said...

What a fucking idiot.

Marcus Bressler said...

I have nothing against legal immigrants. To just go through the process to become legal shows determination and motivation. My Chinese GF was here on a work visa and now has been applying for a Humanitarian Green Card known as the asylee type - she fears returning to China due to political beliefs. Her case, delayed first due to Covid and then postponed due to bureaucracy, will have another hearing in early May of this year.

I have been in a relationship with her for almost 2 years now and she has not only never mentioned marriage for Green Card purposes, but has never asked me for a single dime. When she visits from NYC, she pays her own airfare and has refused my offers. She sends money home to China for her father and two sisters. Her mother died when she was young. She recently paid for her nephew's full college tuition in China of $4000. She misses her family and they live somewhat better by the money that Huang Qin sends home. It has to be done surreptitiously as China disapproves of their simple "citizens" working in the US and sending funds home.
I am praying for a good result as it has been my experience (I have FaceTimed her sisters) that she is a good person and it would be nice to continue our relationship, married or not.

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN

Jupiter said...

It's kind of weird that he gets to keep his credit cards. Why should he be the only person who gets to use his credit cards?

Tina Trent said...

Yeah fuck him. Even if it's a joke. You hold your dying brother in your arms as fat and happy indigent Guatemalans with head colds take his place in line and get back to me in the morning.

And I'll solve it in the parking lot.

There's no justice: there's just us.

You will never have to experience this, Ann. I pay your fucking medical bills with my taxes. Learn something.

robother said...

By his logic, every country in the world that enjoys a higher than average standard of living should have open borders. And within each country, every house or establishment that is nicer than what other people have should have open doors, sharing all private food and wealth with all comers.

But of course, Louis wouldn't see that as following from his principles. (Comedians and Leftists have never been much for rigorous logic, particularly when it cuts against their personal interest.) Yet, denying that second proposition results in the impoverishment he seems to welcome as a consequence of open borders being visited upon the most impoverished citizens of the wealthy country.
And, as others here point out, the benefits of cheaper labor and a bigger customer base enrich the winners all the more.

narciso said...

I enjoy how louise ck was pummelled by bradley cooper in american hustle on type of other instances

Clyde said...

He should go back to whacking off.

Joe Smith said...

Open borders, high taxes...

When you have $50M in the bank none of it affects you in the least...

Eric said...

Louis CK's standard of living is safe. If anything, mass immigration of the sort we are seeing reduces the cost of his groceries and anything that relies on low-skilled, low-priced labor. Now ask current farmworkers and other low-wage workers how they are likely to fare.

This is pretty well documented. See the work of George Borjas (Harvard Kennedy School).

Temujin said...

I love Louis for comedy. And aside from the fact that he used to (used to?) jerk off in front of a lot of other women who didn't request his show, just listening to his interview with Joe Rogan, he sounded like a decent enough guy.

But, on this he's wildly wrong. Embarrassingly so. OK- so he's one of those who doesn't believe in borders, sovereignty, nationalism, possibly Capitalism. Though I'm sure he loves the living he's had. He can have his beliefs. I don't care. I don't go to comedians for my geopolitical outlook. I go to them for laughs.

If Louis is feeling White Capitalistic Guilt, he needs to see a therapist about that. That's a Louis problem. If he's worried that those coming from South of the border don't have it as good as us, the question should be: Why? Why don't they have it as good as us? Instead of saying we should open up and allow the entire world to come in- as if we'd be able to maintain any standard in this country with that happening. Truth is, we're tanking as it is.

Anyway...if you want those south of us to have more: Export Capitalism to them. Explain free markets and individual rights to them. Those are how we created more wealth than the world has ever seen. And while at it, please explain these things to Democrats. They are sorely in need of understanding this.

I'm not part of the Christian Right. That's just a lazy attempt at a slam at those who are disagreeing. Weird how calling someone a Christian is a slam to those on the left.

Dude1394 said...

Well since white Christian’s ( especially male ) are the root of all evil in the world, I think a jihad against his arse is needed. I mean it is about time we lived up to the reputation.

Lurker21 said...

America wasn't that great for young Louis. When his parents divorced he went from being rich in Mexico to being poor in America. He may also have had trouble figuring out if he was Mexican or American, Catholic or Jewish, Irish or Hungarian. He's a very funny man, but there's no reason why anyone should listen to his political opinions.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

He probably had a Hunter Biden poster above his bed.

robother said...

Temujin: "Export Capitalism to them. Explain free markets and individual rights to them. Those are how we created more wealth than the world has ever seen."

I once believed this. The last 33 years have demonstrated that there are many parts of the human world that private property, individual freedom, a limited state and capitalism can never take root. The elites of USA and Western Europe need to have a greater appreciation of the peculiar historical and demographic conditions that gave rise to great leap forward of the last 400 years. The benefits that have flowed to humans on the whole planet, even third world, have been enormous. But the blank slate belief that all human populations are equally capable of organizing themselves in the manner of the WEIRD is bankrupting the West and endangering the whole continuation of prosperity.

Ironically, this is the core human diversity that must be respected.

Readering said...

He believes in capitalism. Free movement of capital, goods, labor. Not so hot on America First.

rcocean said...

All I can say is that I have nothing against LEGAL immigrants. Why if 20 million Nigerians would move into my state, I'd say "Howdy, welcome to America. Take over! I'll be glad to do whatever you want. And thanks for coming".

Yah see, America Loves Immigrants. Its the Christian thing to do. As Gov Huckabee once said, quotin' the Good book and the parable of the good samartian. Jesus loved everyone, so you gotta love them "Immigrunts" and let 'em into the USA or you're like Judas.

And hopefully, if we love 'em like Jesus, they'll work for peanuts and keep them rents high and wages low. I own a lotta real estate, and wouldn't want my Christ-yee-anna-tee to get in the way of some dinero, if y'know what I mean.

When it comes to illegal/legal "Migration" - I love that Jesus, Mitt Romney, the world Jewish Congress, and the chamber of commerce agree on an issue.

chickelit said...

Never liked Louis CK, nor the people who defend him. He's a just an Andrew Dice Clay for intellectuals--especially intellectual women like Althouse. No thanks. JMHO

Daniel12 said...

"Anyway...if you want those south of us to have more: Export Capitalism to them."

You might consider looking into the US history of engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Start with the long list of invasions, occupations, and other military engagements. See how economic interests were front and center. It's not fake news, just plain history -- they weren't shy about saying it 100 years ago.

loudogblog said...

He's deluding himself by thinking that he can get redemption by going extreme far-left/open borders.

Totally pathetic groveling.

The way to redemption is through embracing the truth and telling the trolls to go and "F" themselves because you're speaking the truth and can back it up with facts.

Giving into the trolls and begging for redemption never ends well.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

He's been freed to say whatever he wants.

Chris N said...

Comically broken immigration system. Geriatric political structure still on cruise control. Big demographic cohort almost aged out and problems piling up. Millennials are pretty big but more ‘postmodern’ and dealt a shittier hand..one a lot more radical and ‘European-resembling- than before. global food and supply chain logistics stressed. Often Corrupt and poorly incentivized international institutions. War on the edge of Europe could become suddenly much bigger.

Feels more like 1913 or so

Kate said...

We're a border town. Right now our hospital (we have one) is full of pregnant women giving birth. Services stretched, costs stretched, beds full. This is solely a result of federal immigration policy. Is this humane, vulnerable women travelling in order to birth a citizen? And what about everyone else who has a medical emergency? Ideals must meet reality at some point.

Breezy said...

He can go live south of the border, give up his rarefied lifestyle with all its perks, if that’s the vibe he desires.

It’s an interesting take on an intellectual level, but has no grounding in reality wrt the consequences. It’s pure fantasy.

Rocketeer said...

If Louis CK is going to mentally masturbate in front of me he should at least confirm my consent up front.

boatbuilder said...

Very weird how the Liberal/Corporate consensus wants more control, regulation, monitoring and registration of every facet of our lives, except immigration and voting.

Cui bono?

JAORE said...

Show us how it's done, please.
Live on the average income of the world? Guatemala? Mexico? Choose one.
Use health care standards of your chosen one.
Live in housing .... have typical "things"...water supply... energy... transportation...

Yeah, they really DO look like ants down there Louis. Come join in the hill life.

Lazarus said...

Judging from his television shows and comic routines, Louis is depressed. He feels harried and resentful and wants everyone to be that way. But to some extent it's become an act. Seinfeld doesn't live like Seinfeld. Jackie Gleason didn't live like Ralph Kramden. Comedians are indeed miserable, but it's a neurotic misery, something very different from what you can see on the streets of Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Aggie said...

I notice he's criticizing the 'safety & comforts of home' here in America from the safety & comfort of his home, here in America.

Smilin' Jack said...

Latin America is rich in natural resources, has a great climate, beautiful beaches, mountains, forests, etc. The only problem with Latin America is that it’s full of Latin Americans. That’s what they’re coming here to get away from. Once we’re full of Latin Americans too they won’t want to come here anymore, and the immigration problem solves itself.

RigelDog said...

My go-to class of people to explore rational solutions to complex problems is always men who ask women he's just met if he can whip out his Johnson and masturbate in front of them.

I always wondered what Louis expected these women to do while he was "busy." Were they supposed to sit there in reverent contemplation? Bring out their sketchbooks? Offer constructive feedback ("Louis, maybe you should try a syncopated rhythm")? Would he have found the experience satisfying if the women had just wandered off, chatting with each other and raiding the fridge?

jim said...

My reaction is that this is the best argument for protecting our country and our borders AND not fucking up other people's countries, especially the really nearby ones.

In other words, clean up our (public and private) act internationally while also securing our own.

Indigo Red said...

Open borders immigrants bring their personal cultures of criminality with them. So they eventually acculturate to American society and contribute. What about those left behind in the poor country? Do things get better for them? Are they not still working in dangerous jobs so the new open border Americans and we can have nice stuff and a safe place to sleep at night? What do open borders really change in the old countries? Do those countries suddenly become wealthy? No, not at all. The eventuality is everyone everywhere becomes equally poor and barbarous.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

good news for CK - life in America is going downhill fast with corruptocrats in charge.

Joe Bar said...

As usual, came here to say what Temujin already did, more eloquently.

Saint Croix said...

Milton Friedman on the paradox of open borders.