but first deport the illegal alien criminals On Mar 7, 6:08 pm, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote: > the Hiics did aspire and to which they gave their best, making them > exactly the right people for the job > ---- > the employer has a responsibility to hire legal workers > > confiscate his assets, jail him, and make him work for violating our > laws > > On Mar 7, 2:53 pm, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Immigration Control, Circa AD 175A Lesson from Ancient Greece on Illegal > > Immigrants and EmploymentbyHarold B. Jones Jr. > > December 2007 • Volume: 57 • Issue: 10 • > > Last January the Wall Street Journal reported on the aftermath of federal > > agents’ success in rounding up Hiics on charges of immigration violation. > > The Georgia company where these“illegals” had been employed sought to > > obtain replacements by paying higher wages and offering free > > transportation. It was soon involved in a series of legal challenges that a > > company representative traced to the sentiments of people who were not > > really interested in working. Turnover skyrocketed and productivity fell > > off. Seeking to justify the native-born employees’ poor attitudes and > > performance, a professor at a nearby university said the work was something > > to which no American would ever aspire. She neglected to add that it was > > something to which the Hiics did aspire and to which they gave their best, > > making them exactly the right people for the job. She neglected also to > > point out how regulations were standing in the way of personal freedom and > > economic efficiency. > > The story is an old one. There has been more than one time in history when > > the effort to restrict immigration has hindered the progress both of those > > who were trying to improve themselves and of the civilization that was > > trying to keep them out. It is worth the time it takes to review a lesson > > from the late second century and the story of an emperor whose policies > > were not as wise as his philosophy. > > Marcus Aurelius was born in AD 121, at the high point of what Adam Smith’s > > friend Edward Gibbon said was the historical period during which humanity > > enjoyed the greatest prosperity and happiness it had ever known. Aurelius > > was 15 when the Greek orator Aelius Aristides announced that it was time > > for the whole world to lay down its arms as if at a festival; the only > > tasks with which the cities of the Empire needed to concern themselves were > > those associated with the construction of public buildingsfountains, > > gymnasia, temples, arches, schools, and workshops. > > It was in many respects a time like our own. The general population was > > more interested in athletic contests than in business or the affairs of > > state. Epictetus offers a vivid account of the Romans’ love for > > gladiatorial contests and chariot races, the partisans of the whites, reds, > > blues, and greens debating endlessly the merits of their respective teams. > > “Freedom” had come to mean order, stability, regularity, and the > > maintenance of ancient social distinctions. Plutarch said the Romans had as > > much liberty as the government allowed them and it was just as well that > > they were not given more. Like motivational speakers in modern America, > > “philosophers” (who were said to have been as common as cobblers) toured > > the Empire offering easy answers to difficult questions. Two of the young > > Aurelius’s teachers, in fact, had become wealthy on the lecture circuit. > > The education of Roman children was for long centuries entrusted to private > > enterprise, but late in the first century Vespasian brought the more > > important schools of rhetoric under imperial control by turning professors > > into government employees, complete with a pension after 20 years’ service. > > Early in the second century, the financing of secondary education became a > > municipal responsibility. Aurelius records his gratitude for the fact that > > rather than sending him to a government school, his father had decided to > > have him home-schooled. > > Actually, this was his maternal grandfather, Antoninus Pius, who had > > adopted three-month-old Marcus when the boy’s father died. The Emperor > > Hadrian, who was a frequent visitor in the home, took a liking to the > > child, and when Antoninus Pius was selected to succeed Hadrian, it was with > > the specific provision that Marcus Aurelius would succeed Antoninus Pius. > > The tasks of government were mastered in a series of political > > appointments, the offices assigned carrying increasing authority as youth > > gave way to manhood and manhood became maturity. When Aurelius became > > emperor in AD 161 he was almost as well prepared for the job as anyone > > could have been. > > But only “almost”: the new emperor had gained no experience with military > > action, the necessity for which confronted him as soon as he assumed the > > throne. A half century of peace had encouraged Rome’s leaders to neglect > > what Adam Smith said was a government’s primary obligation, that of > > protecting its society from military violence on the part of other > > societies. An attack from Parthia (modern-day Iran) caught the Romans off > > guard. The assets of the imperial household were auctioned off to raise > > funds, an army was formed, and Aurelius’s adoptive brother Lucius Verus > > took command of it.Looking for TradeAlong the Empire’s northern borders, > > meanwhile, German tribes were on the move. The record of negotiations with > > them suggests that they were less interested in conquest than in > > opportunities for trade and land on which to settle. There had been a time > > in history when they might have been welcomed, a time, Gibbon said, when > > Rome had been open to the contributions of every slave, stranger, or > > barbarian who was willing to play a part in making her great. By the > > self-indulgent second century that time had passed, and the tribesmen were > > treated as a threat to imperial security. Aurelius assembled another army > > and commanded it in a series of campaigns along the Danube. Between battles > > he entered his thoughts in a diary, which was found among his things after > > he died and published as Meditations.Libertarian AuthorThe ideas contained > > in this small volume seem to mark its author as a libertarian. At one > > point, he comes close to suggesting that the tribesmen have as much right > > to occupy the land as the Romans do to keep them off it. The spider that > > captured a fly, he said, the man who trapped a boar, and the solider who > > killed a “Sarmatian” (the generic term for the peoples who lived along the > > Danube) might all be regarded as predatory thieves. > > The philosophy of the Meditations is part of an intellectual tradition > > going back to the third century BC, to the city of Tarsus, and to a man > > named Zeno. Aristotle’s opinion that people were from the hour of their > > birth marked out either for subjection or for rule found no echo in the > > teaching of Zeno. He believed that society should not be divided into > > classes, for all could become wise. Men and women might have different > > roles and different capacities, but they were equal as free moral agents. > > The ideal state would embrace the whole world, and its laws would be > > dictated by nature rather than convention. > > Called “Stoics” because of the porch (stoa) on which their teacher gave > > lessons in Athens, Zeno’s followers believed that everything from the > > falling of a leaf to the rise of an empire could be explained in terms of a > > single underlying principle, or logos. In The Economy in Mind, Warren > > Brookes grasps the essence of this concept when he talks about how the > > natural ecosystem maintains its own balance. All of its elements, he says, > > are so closely interrelated that even the best-intentioned efforts at > > regulation bring about reactions and distortions throughout the system. The > > accommodations by which the ecosystem moves toward equilibrium are part of > > nature’s tendency to preserve, protect, and strengthen itself. Such > > adjustments may entail some discomfort, but the results they lead to are > > better than anything that could be produced by means of intervention from > > the outside. > > The Stoics said the universe, as animated and directed by the logos, tends > > toward harmony, and the wise person seeks to live with this in mind. This > > meant, first of all, tending to one’s own business. Aurelius said that each > > person should focus on his private concerns because these were his > > particular thread of the universal web. Such a focus might draw criticism > > from external observers, but it was the only way to happiness and peace of > > mind. Your critics have reasons of their own, Aurelius told himself, but > > you cannot afford to concern yourself with those. Do not look around for > > praise or encouragement. Just keep your eyes fixed on your purposes.Not > > Narrow Self-InterestUsing a term that was popular during the eighteenth > > century, Adam Smith called this “self interest.” In Aurelius’s mind it > > referred not to a narrow selfishness but to the simple truth that his own > > concerns are the only things about which a person can know enough to be > > effective. And this, remember, was the opinion of an emperor, a man whose > > authority reached so far that even the Chinese knew about him. His concerns > > included much that was not strictly private. He could oversee the > > management of imperial affairs and direct the operations of an army, but he > > refused to pry into other people’s motives, and he wished they would resist > > the temptation to pry into his. > > Focus on the issues of your own life, Aurelius said, because that is how > > you can make the maximum possible contribution to the good of the universe. > > To each individual thing Nature has assigned enough time and energy, and in > > the case of human beings enough intelligence, for a limited number of > > tasks. The wise person therefore concentrates his attention on what is > > actually in his power. The fig tree does a fig tree’s work, a dog does a > > dog’s work, and a bee does the work of a bee. The sun has one job, the wind > > another, storm clouds a third, and all play a part in the final result. > > Just so, each human being has his own particular tasks, and no one knows > > more about how to do them than the person to whom they have been assigned. > > ... > > read more »
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