>Potentially; one could be a naturalized citizen, or a child of immigrants, or poor enough not to be a net positive contributor to federal revenue.
You're taking a very limited view of "investment" here. The point is everyone is responsible for the efficient operation of a nation. From the CEO's to the janitors. The country could not function without either of them, so they all contribute in important ways.
>The fact that a given individual belongs to an arbitrarily defined class of people does not give that individual any credit for what that class of people has collectively done.
The boundaries of a nation are not arbitrarily defined. This isn't a grouping of people based on hair color. National boundaries have real importance. Each worker, each person who is doing their part in a society is party responsible for its successes. The groundskeeper at a park should in fact be proud to be American when we launch the space shuttle. There's nothing illogical about it.
>You can take that same argument and use it to justify racial segregation.
Bullshit. The country prospered in part because of slavery. Your focus on dollar amounts is extremely short sighted.
>No, I'm taking an individual-centric view
The problem is an individual-centric view does not capture all the important interactions in the system. The nation is a very important unit. It may not be ideal, but the fact is we do operate along national lines. Trying to argue that we should ignore it just doesn't work.
>you can get around to explaining how governments are magically better at corporations at hiring engineers.
Like I said, corporations are only capable of operating with self-interest in mind. Laissez-faire capitalism doesn't work, every government regulation in existence is an acknowledgment of this. Making regulations for hiring foreign workers is no different.
> The country prospered in part because of slavery.
The country prospered in part because of immigrants.
> The point is everyone is responsible for the efficient operation of a nation.
A citizen who contributes nothing is responsible for "the efficient operation of a nation", but an immigrant who works his ass off isn't? Immigrants designed that moon rocket you're bragging about.
Citizenship is arbitrarily defined, by the way, in the sense that countries can arbitrarily set whatever citizenship laws they want.
You're equivocating painfully on the word immigrant. An immigrant is someone who immigrates to America. It is not every foreigner who may want to immigrate. Yes, immigrants have contributed to the efficient operation of America. Those immigrants are here reaping the benefits.
You're taking a very limited view of "investment" here. The point is everyone is responsible for the efficient operation of a nation. From the CEO's to the janitors. The country could not function without either of them, so they all contribute in important ways.
>The fact that a given individual belongs to an arbitrarily defined class of people does not give that individual any credit for what that class of people has collectively done.
The boundaries of a nation are not arbitrarily defined. This isn't a grouping of people based on hair color. National boundaries have real importance. Each worker, each person who is doing their part in a society is party responsible for its successes. The groundskeeper at a park should in fact be proud to be American when we launch the space shuttle. There's nothing illogical about it.
>You can take that same argument and use it to justify racial segregation.
Bullshit. The country prospered in part because of slavery. Your focus on dollar amounts is extremely short sighted.
>No, I'm taking an individual-centric view
The problem is an individual-centric view does not capture all the important interactions in the system. The nation is a very important unit. It may not be ideal, but the fact is we do operate along national lines. Trying to argue that we should ignore it just doesn't work.
>you can get around to explaining how governments are magically better at corporations at hiring engineers.
Like I said, corporations are only capable of operating with self-interest in mind. Laissez-faire capitalism doesn't work, every government regulation in existence is an acknowledgment of this. Making regulations for hiring foreign workers is no different.