Yes, those dirty foreigners are clearly causing all of Europes problems.

The irony of this in a post about how nonsensical this policy is in Japan is stunning.

There are a variety of issues in Europe right now involving foreigners. They are not necessarily related to this one. No need for sarcasm.

> Europe's immigration problems

Nobody said all of Europes problems. Maybe don't argue against a straw man you created yourself?

Care to elaborate on how this parallels Japan? Otherwise this just reads like a random drive-by at best, and a culture-war talking point at worst.

Racial and ethnic tensions, which really just leads to a dissolution of social cohesion, which increases violence and overall unrest.

Then some extremist government is voted in to not allow foreigners at all (AfD, etc), or even the same government is pushed to have extremely strict immigration laws (see Denmark).

I don't consider myself a nativist, since Singapore shows a multi-ethnic society in relative harmony can be done. But that relies on both the local population and the government to be willing to live as one cohesive and multi-ethnic society.

have you looked at the process for becoming a singapore citizen? It's EXTREMELY selective. There's a reason they have great cohesion.

The ICA says it considers factors including family ties to singaporeans, economic contributions, qualifications, age, family profile, length of residency, ability to integrate into Singapore society, and commitment to “sinking roots” in Singapore.

Emphasis on:

> ability to integrate into Singapore society, and commitment to “sinking roots” in Singapore.

It turns out, immigration problems are usually a "skill issue". It _can_ be done well.

On the contrary, what this illustrates is that there is no level of immigration that is low enough to satisfy right-wing populist demands. Right wing populists will keep stirring up anti-immigration sentiment as necessary to win elections. Actual levels of immigration, or actual evidence of the positive and negative impacts of immigration, are irrelevant.

It is rather like extremist environmentalism (by which I mean actual extremism – not just acknowledging the reality of climate change, etc.). Whatever you do, it will never be enough to satisfy the hempen-socked.

I recently went to Spain, it was the best country I've visited in years. Most cities were head and shoulders above anything I've seen in the US in recent times. I couldn't believe how vibrant the place was, it was like buzzing with events, people out on the streets having a good time on weeknights etc.

I notice there is a lot of Europe bashing going on on HN but I don't think it's actually warranted.