When Khruschev and the Soviets built the Berlin Wall to keep East German workers from moving to or working in West Germany, he could rely upon Vattel's opinion that one of the Principle Objects of Government is to prevent, by force if necessary, the emigration of workers that the State finds useful:
"Those workmen that are useful ought to be retained in the state; to succeed in retaining them, the public authority has certainly a right to use constraint if necessary. Every citizen owes his personal service to his country; and a mechanic, in particular, who has been reared, educated, in its bosom, cannot lawfully leave it, and carry to a foreign land that industry which he acquired at home, unless his country has no occasion for him, or he cannot there obtain the just fruit of his labor and abilities. Employment must then be procured for him; and if while able to obtain a decent livelihood in his own country, he would without reason abandon it, the state has a right to detain him."
Vattel, The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natiural Law Book 1, Chapter 6, § 74
Fidel Castro, too, agrees with Vattel's view on the right of the State to hold workers captive if it is of benefit to the State.
Vattel devotees, including those who fancy themselves connoisseurs of the various flavors and gradations of citizenship, might themselves get indigestion from some of Vattel's finest delicacies. The Vattel fetish is for genuine crackpots.
Vattel devotees, including those who fancy themselves connoisseurs of the various flavors and gradations of citizenship, might themselves get indigestion from some of Vattel's finest delicacies. The Vattel fetish is for genuine crackpots.
Of course we've never had conscription in this country. And of course we've never had the government to order engineers and scientists to work on various major projects of great interest to our nation. (The Manhattan Project, the Panama Canal, the Hoover Dam, etc.)
You portray what Vattel is saying in bad light because you don't like what he is saying regarding natural born citizenship. You have just created an ad hominem directed at Vattel.
It is axiomatic that the government must hold on to people who have special skills, and not allow them to fall into the hands of our enemies. Our Scientists and Engineers who work in Military weaponry are in this category. They can't just pick up and go whether they like it or not, and if you think this is a crazy idea, you are a fool.
By the way, England did exactly the same thing. During the Industrial revolution, they guarded their mechanical engineers jealously. (These are the people to Whom Vattel is referring.) Fortunately, some of them snuck out and brought their secrets to America, and look how that turned out for England.
Oh, yes. Screech CASTRO before you bother finishing the quote. How transparent.
But a very moderate use ought to be made of this right, and only in important or necessary cases. Liberty is the soul of abilities and industry: frequently a mechanic or an artist, after having long travelled abroad, is attracted home to his native soil by a natural affection, and returns more expert and better qualified to render his country useful services. If certain extraordinary cases be excepted, it is best in this affair to practise the mild methods of protection, encouragement, &c., and to leave the rest to that natural love felt by all men for the places of their birth.