Patrons of the Cafe know of my great admiration for Robert Higgs, as both a scholar and a person. Bob edits — with much creativity, energy, and scholarly wisdom — the Independent Institute‘s splendid quarterly journal The Independent Review, and has a long corpus of work, chiefly in economic history. Here’s Bob’s most recent essay. In it, he eloquently defends immigration — and, in the process, challenges many of the most fundamental myths of modern politics. Here’s a paragraph to whet your appetite:
Lest you wonder about the point of this mundane little narrative, I
hasten to emphasize that my father had done something quite remarkable:
he had left the sovereign state of Oklahoma, crossed the sovereign
states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and entered into and
established permanent residence in the sovereign state of California,
all without the permission of any of the rulers of these states.
Imagine that!