THE OPEN BORDERS PROFESSOR
Joe Carens, a political science professor at The University of Toronto, is described as “one of the world’s leading political philosophers on the issue” of immigration. His book “The Ethics of Immigration” is popular in academic circles (meaning nobody’s read it). But I read one of his essays. Joe argues, “borders should generally be open and people should normally be free to leave their country of origin and settle wherever they choose . . . . On what moral grounds can we deny entry to these sorts of people? What gives anyone the right to point guns at them?”
Joe’s guiding principle — a constant refrain throughout our conversation — is fairness. He longs for a world that’s fair. “What I try to say is, look, if we find ourselves in a world, we have to reflect upon whether we think the institutions that exist, however they came about — are these just or fair or are they not? And if they’re unfair, we should try to change them to make them fairer. So that should be the question. The world you find yourself in, you didn’t create it no matter who you are, but you have to decide whether you’re going to perpetuate it or change it.”
I have a hunch something happened to Joe. That something might be why he’s focused on fighting unfairness.
I take a shot. “Were you ever molested as a child?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure. I think I was sexually abused. I do think that happened, but I don’t have clear memories. I’ve been in therapy, so it’s not something I can point to. This happened to me at this time, but it did affect my stance in the world, I think.” A Catholic priest is “one possibility, but I haven’t got the specifics about it,” he tells me. “So it could have been a family thing. I’m sure it wasn’t my father, but there was an uncle who’s a possibility. I’m not sure. I do think it was probably connected to that because I have a psychological aversion to being in Catholic churches. That makes sense, psychically, in that connection.”
A renunciation of God after an alleged assault inside of a Catholic church would explain a yearning desire for fairer institutions. A fair institution would protect the most vulnerable. Babies are vulnerable. Was Joe molested as a baby? Who else is vulnerable? “Your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.” His striving for strong institutional protection under the banner of universal amnesty makes sense in the repressed memory of an alleged Catholic Church-related child sexual assault.
When people experience trauma, they often remove themselves from reality. It’s too painful. They have to detach to protect themselves. Joe’s aversion to the unfairness of the here and now; his preference for abstract possibility over practical reality; and his focus on what could be over the nature of what is are all functions of a man who finds comfort in a world of dreams, rather than the world as it is. It’s a compelling dream, in the final analysis. But it remains just that—a dream.