People vs. Things

Humans want to be important. Everyone wants to be considered as special and unique. Nobody wants to be compared to an object or a thing. Nobody wants to have it inferred that things are held more in value than they are.

In his article Bordering on Absurdity, Michael Mandel starts out an emotional appeal by saying that Americans value their 'toys' more than they do people of other nationalities. He points out the fact that while "goods and services move easily across national borders... flows of people are strictly regulated" (par. 1). This attracts people's attention by causing them to realize that while we make laws that allow all the appliances that make our lives convenient to enter our country, we have laws that prevent allowing many immigrants to enter the country.

Being an economic writer for BusinessWeek, Madel focuses on the economic side of the issue of immigration. He focuses on the effect immigration has been having on the economy by talking about the issue of wages and the value immigrants can add to America's economy. For example he says, "A world of open borders would mimic, on a larger scale, the situation that already exists within the U.S. People can move long distances from one part of the country to another, chasing better jobs and higher pay. Florida and Arizona do not erect barriers saying, 'No more immigrants from the Midwest.' Instead, they welcome them and even boast about the number of people moving to their states as a driving force for growth" (par. 5). By comparing the issue of closed borders to something that strikes closer to home, Madel creates the feeling that Americans are completely self-interested. That we are willing to allow other Americans to move into our neighborhoods to create new jobs but when it comes to allowing foreigners we'd rather have them make our 'toys' in their own countries than to come and make them in our own backyards. He uses examples that will strike a cord in people's minds; causing them to realize that we as Americans really do this. Mandel is trying to create an appeal with the business world of America that while "open borders for immigration are not going to happen anytime soon. The political and cultural obstacles are too large, as the latest immigration debate in the U.S. shows. But over time, facilitating the free flow of people is going to be a critical step toward achieving a truly global economy. " (par. 12). Mandel is trying to appeal to American's sense of fairness and compassion by saying that we aren't willing to carry these values that we believe in to outside of our own country.