Dirty Jobs, Good Pay: Mike Rowe and others seek to revive the American work ethic

City Journal ^ | Spring 2018 Issue | Steven Malanga

[neverevergiveup]

“Those who came before all of us, those settlers and pioneers, now THEY had it tough.”

Yes, I suppose, but everything is relative. They didn't have to answer solicitors and robo calls. They weren't expected to be constantly in contact by phone, text, or email. They didn't have to worry about how bad they looked on their selfies. They didn't have to pay for collision and liability insurance for their horses. They didn't have to foot the bill for their children to go to prom - or to college. And, April 15th had no general special meaning for them.. (all sarcasm, of course..).

[kearnyirish2]

I’ve heard many commentators say Trump won this election on the immigration issue, and I believe it certainly played a big role; most Americans know the open borders and H-1B program visibly lowered our standard of living. While a few niches benefited from the mass immigration, most of us are hurt by it - without a doubt.

[Zhang Fei]

[While a few niches benefited from the mass immigration, most of us are hurt by it - without a doubt.]

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Owners of capital benefited. Non-owners, not so much. Large-scale immigration is a dagger pointed at the heart of wage growth. On top of that, it also makes home ownership a lot more expensive, given that infrastructure is expensive, and mostly located around established cities, which means that the abundance of land in the sticks makes little difference to what it costs the average worker to buy a home near his job. One way the feds could make a difference, oddly enough, is to ban (1) building codes that limit vertical construction in the name of air rights and (2) home-size zoning restrictions.

[kearnyirish2]

Here in NJ owners of capital have been moving it elsewhere for years, but we are still a sanctuary state because the public worker caste (specifically the teachers’ unions) want the immigrants as clients. After the Elian Gonzalez debacle years ago, who would allow “unaccompanied minors” here? Those making fat salaries & benefits pretending to teach them - while these new clients pay nothing for said services.