Question posed to Ayn Rand in the Q&A at the Ford Hall Forum 1974.
What is your attitude toward open immigration? What is your attitude toward the effect it may have on the standard of living in this country?
"You don't apparently know what my position of self interest is. I have never advocated that anyone has the right to pursue his self-interest by law or by force.
If you close the borders you forbid immigration on ground that it lowers your standard of living which is definitely not true. But even assuming it were true you have no right to bar others. Therefore, to claim it's your self-interest is an irrational claim.
You are not entitled to any self-interest which injures others and the rights of others and which you cannot prove in fact in reality to be valid. You cannot claim that anything that others may do not directly to you, but simply through competition let's say, is against your self-interest in their work you want to stop competition dead. That is the kind of self-interest you are not entitled to it is a contradiction in terms and cannot be defended.
But above all, aren't you dropping a more personal context how could I ever advocate that immigration should be restricted when I wouldn't be alive today if it were?"
â Ayn Rand
[Video: Question posed to Ayn Rand in the Q&A at the Ford Hall Forum 1974. What is your attitude toward open immigration? What is your attitude toward the effect it may have on the standard of living in this country? "You don't apparently know what my position of self interest is. I have never advocated that anyone has the right to pursue his self-interest by law or by force. If you close the borders you forbid immigration on ground that it lowers your standard of living which is definitely not true. But even assuming it were true you have no right to bar others. Therefore, to claim it's your self-interest is an irrational claim. You are not entitled to any self-interest which injures others and the rights of others and which you cannot prove in fact in reality to be valid. You cannot claim that anything that others may do not directly to you, but simply through competition let's say, is against your self-interest in their work you want to stop competition dead. That is the kind of self-interest you are not entitled to it is a contradiction in terms and cannot be defended. But above all, aren't you dropping a more personal context how could I ever advocate that immigration should be restricted when I wouldn't be alive today if it were?" â Ayn Rand]