Posted on 06/03/2005 6:12:35 AM PDT by shortstop
Can we just put this lie to rest once and for all?
I'm talking about that nonsense you hear whenever anybody discusses illegal immigration.
The one about how we need illegal aliens because they do the jobs that Americans won't. The variation on it is the racist tripe from the Mexican president that illegal aliens do jobs that not even black Americans will do.
It's all nonsense.
Americans would gladly do those jobs -- if the bosses weren't crooks.
And anybody who employs an illegal alien is a crook. And a traitor and a backstabber.
The illegals are one type of problem, the people who employ them are another. One group should be sent back to Mexico, the other should be sent to jail.
I'm not kidding. The damage done to American strength and American prosperity by the combination of illegal workers and illegal bosses is incalculable. The love of money and the putting of profit over patriotism is a glaring moral indictment of the people who hire illegal aliens.
But back to the jobs Americans won't do.
That theory ignores the realities of the free market. It denies the fundamental nature of supply and demand.
Here's an example. Let's say I've got a pile of dog crap I want cleaned up. Let's say I'm willing to pay somebody to clean that pile of dog crap up for me.
Now, cleaning up dog crap is not a particularly pleasant thing. It tends to stink, and you have to bend over, and it's gross and revolting.
People don't like doing it.
But you want to hire it done. So let's say you stand there with a dollar in your hand and say that you'll pay somebody a dollar to clean up the dog crap.
Well, in all likelihood, people are going to walk right on by. You can wave your buck until the cows come home and nobody's going to bite.
That's because the free market is at work. The market is determing the worth of a product or service -- picking up dog crap -- and weighing it against the available wage. Simply put, it's not worth it to people to mess with stinky crap for a dollar.
So how do you respond to it?
Well, in the free-market world, you up the ante. You offer two dollars for the job. And if that doesn't get any takers you raise it to $3, or $5 or $10. At some point, somebody will agree to your terms and you will give them the money and they will clean up your dog crap.
That's the free market. That's the capitalism beneath all economic freedom. People will do anything, you just have to pay them enough. That's how the price of labor is set, just as the price of any other commodity or product is set. It all comes down to what the market will bear.
And the reason that illegal aliens flock to jobs Americans seem to ignore is because the employers are violating not just the laws of our land, but the laws and morality of the free market. Through a willingness to work below legal and prevailing wages, and because many employers pay them under the table, avoiding taxes and insurance, the cost of illegal labor is substantially below what the free market would price it at.
It becomes an odd shell game in which the real costs of employing illegal aliens is borne not by the employer, but by society.The jobs pay below the market level, and are below what is necessary to support a family. Welfare and free services and unpaid-for health care make up the difference -- with every dollar coming out of the taxpayer or the consumer's pocket.
The reason Americans don't take those jobs is because the employers won't let them. The employers do better hiring illegals, ending up with less expensive labor and less obligation to employees.
Unfortunately, it also guts our country, our security and our economy.
But people will take those jobs. They will gladly take them.
But they will have to pay what the market demands. They will have to pay legally. They will have to pay honestly.
They will have to give up the crutch of illegal labor. They will have to be capitalists, not crooks.
Americans will pick lettuce and fry fries and clean toilets and pave roads and milk cows.
You just have to pay them what the work is truly worth.
All part of the joys of entrepreneurship. Get a bookkeeper and go sailing. :>
Some very good points I've not considered before. Thanks for the perspective.
Put a Mother Russia in there, and we got a slogan from the bolshivieks.
BTTT
Another advocate of corporate welfare, I see. Isn't that what national socialism was all about?
Uh I'm not for corporate welfare or personal govt. welfare.
Nice try at deflection though.
This kind of talk just makes the hair stand up on the back of thier heads. They must be thinking of all the illegal aliens that work for them, and how many years they would get in the pokey if anyone told.
Or maybe that these guys are learning that their union bosses are fleecing them, and going for the $24.50 and hr. job, for a good days work and no union dues to prop up corrupt unions taken out.
The 35-year-old Osorio is one of tens of thousands of Hispanic construction workers who have been pouring the concrete and erecting the steel beams of the scores of buildings going up around the region.
(snip)
Osorio came here illegally 13 years ago, and his first job was pulling weeds. Now he is here legally and makes $24.05 an hour
Then why aren't you out picking melons?
See reply #50 of this thread.
JMO, it seems you want the US government to support corrupt labor unions.
Oh employers are just drooling at the mouth to hire you ...
I keep hearing about this mythical $5 lettuce but I've never seen anything to substantiate the claim that produce prices would skyrocket if farm wages were increased. IMHO, the end-of-season manual labor almost has to be one of the smaller components of total production cost.
Do you happen to have a link that says otherwise?
Excellent article. BTTT.
Propaganda.
Whatever newbie union troll.
Curious that the open borders/illegal immigration advocate crowd is resorting to the "union activist" label for anyone who dares to question the wisdom of their agitprop. It's transparent, though. You want to replace native born Americans with immigrants and you'll stop at nothing to accomplish your goals. The question is why? What's in it for you? What do you get in exchange for taking this angle on public forums? How does illegal immigration help you personally?
Blah, blah, blah, same old tired rants.
Gee, I guess it would never occur to you that those "evil" contractors, are just looking for good, reliable, and well paid work, to put up buildings, and that there is no nefarious conspiracy going on.
And to answer, I am not involved in any way with the contracting business or an employee of any immigration lobbying group.
Just a poster on an internet forum, giving my opinion, which seems to be a crime to you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.