Scott Alexander:

Imagine a country called Conservia, a sprawling empire of a billion people that has a fifth-dimensional hyperborder with America. The Conservians are all evangelical Christians who hate abortion, hate gays, hate evolution, and believe all government programs should be cut.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Conservians hop the hyperborder fence and enter America, and sympathetic presidents then pass amnesty laws granting them citizenship. As a result, the area you live – or let’s use Berkeley, the area I live – gradually becomes more conservative. First the abortion clinics disappear, as Conservian protesters start harassing them out of business and a government that must increasingly pander to Conservians doesn’t stop them. Then gay people stop coming out of the closet, as Conservian restaurants and businesses refuse to serve them and angry Conservian writers and journalists create an anti-gay climate. Conservians vote 90% Republican in elections, so between them and the area’s native-born conservatives the Republicans easily get a majority and begin defunding public parks, libraries, and schools. Also, Conservians have one pet issue which they promote even more intently than the destruction of secular science – that all Conservians illegally in the United States must be granted voting rights, and that no one should ever block more Conservians from coming to the US.

Is this fair to the native Berkeleyans? It doesn’t seem that way to me. And what if 10 million Conservians move into America? That’s not an outrageous number – there are more Mexican immigrants than that. But it would be enough to have thrown every single Presidential election of the past fifty years to the Republicans – there has never been a Democratic candidate since LBJ who has won the native population by enough of a margin to outweight the votes of ten million Conservians.

But isn’t this incredibly racist and unrealistic? An entire nation of people whose votes skew 90% Republican? No. African-Americans’ votes have historically been around 90% Democratic (93% in the last election). Latinos went over 70% Democratic in the last election. For comparison, white people were about 60% Republicans. If there had been no Mexican immigration to the United States over the past few decades, Romney would probaby have won the last election.

Is it wrong for a liberal citizen of Berkeley in 2013 to want to close the hyperborder with Conservia so that California doesn’t become part of the Bible Belt and Republicans don’t get guaranteed presidencies forever? Would that citizen be racist for even considering this? If not, then pity the poor conservative, who is actually in this exact situation right now.

Thoughts?

LOL This is fucking ridiculous. Fuck America's immigration system.

We should just have a U.S.--Commonwealth--Western Europe free movement bloc with a price of entry. Cultural homogeneity ensured.

This wouldn't be a problem if Republicans started pandering to immigrants.

Latinos have a strong macho culture and are extremely Catholic. They could be a hugely useful social conservative bloc if the Republicans would just stop trying to alienate them.

That's what the Republicans have been trying to do for a while. Unfortunately people like Trump and Cruz keep dragging them back. The GOP establishment has been trying its hand at the modernisation game for a while now--at least since Priebus became chairman of the RNC--but they can't find a way to do it without alienating the base.

Republican party has been on its way out for a while now.

People said the same after Watergate, and the same about the Democrats until the DNC pulled Clinton out of its ass. The GOP will find a way to come back, new and improved. It's just in the nature of political parties. Survival comes first.

They're a joke now. Look at Trump. That's somebody nobody would've voted for 10 years ago.

I don't know man, the Republicans got Barry Goldwater in in the '60s. Maybe not Trump-tier, but still pretty out there. I don't know what Trump is playing on, because it's clearly more substantial than people hating political correctness, but there's no way in hell he's going to get the nomination.

There seems to be a political crisis in both the U.S. and the U.K. revolving a rejection of the established political class. Pretty much nobody likes our current politicians, and then you get shit like Trump, Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.

That was a good article and it got better the more I read.

I don't know what Trump is playing on, because it's clearly more substantial than people hating political correctness

Well...