Having read this article by Peter Wilby http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/benefit-immigration-cuts-wont-make-us-better-off I am forced to conclude that he is a materialist who thinks the general population is motivated entirely by money considerations.

This is the sort of selfishness-first argument Ayn Rand would have put forward.

This is why the left does not understand immigration - the lefties think that humanity is just made up of economic units that have no value as individuals (with feelings and opinions and democratic choices) but just exist in some kind of collective mass that is assessed entirely socio-economic terms.

What a bleak view of the world.