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Saturday, 18 February 2023

Immigration Is Necessary For Greatness

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"Those who desire a city to achieve great empire must endeavour by all possible means to make her populous; for without an abundance of inhabitants it is impossible to ever make a city powerful."

Machiavelli, Discources on Livy, pg 164, Castalia Edition. 

Herein lies the motive of modern governments behind immigration. They all want the greatness of empires. They long for the prestige and power of great and large countries. And they know they can achieve this much easier with mass immigration. Just as Rome did. 

And Rome did become great. None can doubt this. It towered over its contemporaries, dominated its neighbours, expanded across the entire Mediterranean, and lost its soul in the process. 

Eventually, Rome was dominated by the very Germanic peoples that Rome had fought on its northern borders for centuries. Odoacer and his Germanic descendants became the masters of Rome, and now it's but a small city state ruled by a corrupted priesthood, who are barely even related to its ancient builders. 

Rome became great, but it completely spent itself in the process. A Faustian bargain, if there ever was one. 

The temptation to build empires and grow from immigration is very strong for modern leaders. Who see our bountiful plains and resources, not just as a community asset to share and prosper the nation, but as a commodity to attract more tax payers, workers, and more. Constant immigration pads budget numbers, gives the appearance of a healthy and growing economy, and allows governments a short cut to certain successes. 

But it all comes with a trade off; your nation's soul, identity, and likely its long term independence. Is it worth that? 

Not in my estimation. 

What good is growth if it changes all that was good about what attracted the growth? 

Some change is good. Not all change is though. What makes a nation attractive to people coming in, can be lost if it is not managed well, and if you change the characterof the people living there. Sometimes it is better to shun greatness for contentment. Australia, simple old Australia, with its unique identity is worth preserving. We should be content with it. 


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