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14
13
Yes No
Debate Score:27
Arguments:18
Total Votes:38
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 Yes (9)
 
 No (7)

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WinstonC(1225) pic



Is immigration from authoritarian regimes a threat to liberal values?

People from more authoritarian states tend to skew more towards authoritarian side of the political spectrum. This is in part simply because the acceptable parameters of debate; the "Overton Window", skews authoritarian. As such, does an influx of immigrants from more authoritarian regimes move the political build-up of our voters in the direction of authoritarianism?

Note: I mean liberal in the English sense of the word; libertarian, egalitarian enlightenment values. I do not mean the "Liberal Democrat" political party.

Yes

Side Score: 14
VS.

No

Side Score: 13

Yes. The Democratic Party in America has waved them in in droves, and now they are being pushed out of their own party as their party gets more and more extreme. One day the old Democrats will be forced right, and we will have a party of foreign ideas vs a party of what used to be America.

Side: Yes
1 point

YES! ANYTHING from an authoritarian regime is a threat to democratic values (Except, maybe, surrender. ;-) Our OWN "authoritarian regime" is the quintessential THREAT to our OWN democracy! We REALLY need to change regimes! Let's, maybe, try a woman this time (?) … she couldn't screw it up any more than the string of white men we've elected!

Hmmmm, I don't seem to remember an "authoritarian woman".... met a couple "dominant" ones, but …;-)

Side: Yes
1 point

Is immigration from authoritarian regimes a threat to liberal values?

Hello W:

I wouldn't call what we have today, "immigration from an authoritarian regime.." These are simple people.. They don't know authoritarian from liberal.. Consequently, they're not immigrating. They're FLEEING.. It's what refugees do.

excon

Side: No
Cocopops(347) Disputed
3 points

Do you mean to say that they're too dumb to know that they're living under a repressive regime and just decide to leave their homeland and forsake their family and friends just to see if the grass is greener on the other side of the hill.

Is it just some sort of coincidence that these dumb people, who are incapable of rational thinking always head for the U.S.A.,?.

Side: Yes
Hootie(364) Disputed
1 point

Is it just some sort of coincidence that these dumb people, who are incapable of rational thinking always head for the U.S.A.,?

Intelligent people flee the USA buddy. They try to find a place where the President isn't a rapist.

Side: No
1 point

Is immigration from authoritarian regimes a threat to liberal values?

Oh yes. Just ask the Nazis. They keenly agree with you.

Side: No
-1 points

It depends. Over the decades we have received many immigrants that were fleeing authoritarianism for the sake of western freedoms. They are often among the loudest critics (when they choose to speak) of policies that are too similar to those which they fled.

On the other hand, there are those who don’t understand or pay attention to politics. They aren’t concerned with political freedoms, but economic advantage. This can also be beneficial, except when they find sufficient economic advantage in a political construct. Bough that circumstance is problematic for all involved in the long run.

The least common type of immigrant would fit the concern expressed here. Immigrants who found some advantage in their authoritarian origin and seek to bring such with them. They understand the political construct and seek economic advantage from it. Their concern with politics will cause them to actively engage on behalf of principles which assisted in the relative destruction of their origin.

Side: No
Hootie(364) Disputed
1 point

It depends. Over the decades we have received many immigrants that were fleeing authoritarianism for the sake of western freedoms.

And then, by that same logic, the Soviet Union received many immigrants that were feeling authoritarianism for the sake of communist freedoms.

Or let me guess. The opposite thing happened there, right?

Side: Yes
1 point

I agree 100% with the first two paragraphs and it captures the nuance of the question well, however when you get to:

The least common type of immigrant would fit the concern expressed here. Immigrants who found some advantage in their authoritarian origin and seek to bring such with them.

I find disagreement. To begin, I'd like to state that when I say more authoritarian regimes I don't mean just the most extreme examples (who generally won't let people leave anyway). Arguably every country is more authoritarian than the U.S., for example my country the U.K. doesn't have freedom of speech or the right to bear arms. Moreover, most of the people here don't even want these freedoms (except hunting shotguns, which are not to be used for self-defense and certainly not defense of property). In fact, the position of our Overton window means that to advocate for more gun rights is to be labelled a fringe crackpot.

However, to illustrate better we can use more apt examples where people would migrate for economic reasons, such as Muslim majority countries that make homosexuality illegal. Another example would be post-communist eastern European countries who seem to hold that democracy means tyranny of the majority (and who often espouse racial superiority and anti-LGBT views and laws). Hungary and Poland are good examples of this.

In my estimation most migrants are driven to migrate by a desire for safety (which lends itself to authoritarianism by the way) or by economic benefit. The majority are not motivated by a deep understanding and love for liberal values. They may want the result (prosperity and safety) but generally speaking they don't understand how the result was achieved (liberalism).

Side: Yes
Amarel(5669) Clarified
1 point

I take your point. You seem to be expanding on my second paragraph. People who come for specific benefits, but are ignorant of the philosophical foundations from which those benefits are derived, may be detrimental to those foundations and ultimately detrimental to those beneficial ends.

Ultimately we are talking about multiculturalism. You cannot welcome all aspects of all cultures into your own. Some aspects of culture specifically contradict other cultures. We cannot, for example, welcome people who find it proper to literally beat women while telling them that their entire culture is acceptable. It isn’t.

Immigrants have to assimilate to some key fundamental western principles. Given they can do that, western culture is made stronger by the diversity they bring. If they cannot do that, they risk destroying that which they immigrated for.

Side: Yes
-1 points

Still too reasonable for CD I see.

Side: No
ArchonElite(335) Disputed
1 point

The last thing spamarel needs is his pseudo-intellectual ego being stroked. He is one of the most dishonest, stupid and cowardly people on the entire internet.

Side: Yes
Amarel(5669) Clarified
0 points

Haha high praise. Especially considering I’ve been engaging considerably with top notch trolls.

Side: Yes