- Nov 11, 2009
- 30,690
An interesting and timely book review published by AEIR states that taking positive action through relocation is far more effective than using the ballot box.
From the first couple paragraphs:
It's quite an interesting article, reviewing Somin's book and restating his arguments, and is particularly appropriate for Marylanders like myself, who see no hope of changing the repressive culture here, and plenty of benefit in choosing to live in a more agreeable milieu.
Here's a link, if you're interested:
https://www.aier.org/article/voting-with-your-feet/
From the first couple paragraphs:
Ilya Somin’s great book from last year: Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom . . . undermining voting as the most effectful participation in civic life and showing that arguments against foreigners coming to our shores don’t hold water.
The brilliance of Free to Move is to connect these two arguments. Ballot voting is unsatisfactory for all the reasons that foot voting is not: an individual has no ability to impact the outcome of, and therefore has no reason to learn about, the political issues involved. A foot voter has almost full ability to affect the outcome of his or her decisions, and thus all the reasons in the world to investigate them. Having accountable decisions made at the level where their consequences are most urgently felt – the individual – aligns political life with personal values in a way no amount of democratic participation could.
* * *
Leaving people to choose for themselves allows them to opt out of systems that force majoritarian rule on them. Somin makes a great case for migration as a life-changing force for the people able to do it, not least his own parents leaving the Soviet Union.
It's quite an interesting article, reviewing Somin's book and restating his arguments, and is particularly appropriate for Marylanders like myself, who see no hope of changing the repressive culture here, and plenty of benefit in choosing to live in a more agreeable milieu.
Here's a link, if you're interested:
https://www.aier.org/article/voting-with-your-feet/