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.
well said. I am forwarding this to my boss, who hires illegals, and hope I dont get replaced....but at least i know it wont be by an illegal, they can't do my job... but they can do the jobs in the shop, the hard labor...
Only if they paid $9.50 an hour with medical and dental benefits!
That, and quit using the brute force of the Federal government to take money away from people who work to give to people who won't work.
"Only if they paid $9.50 an hour with medical and dental benefits!"
and that is so wrong? what job do you do for $4 an hour?
It all seems hopelessly intertwined now. Employers are seduced by cheap labor; illegals by desire for a better life irregardless; politicians by creating an endless mess they can control (and, of course, profit from).
How do you unscramble scrambled eggs?
[[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.]]
Our political leaders have sold us out by not enforcing the laws already on the books and by turning a blind eye to this illegal "reconquesta" invasion by corrupt Mexico.
This is proof that the Republican Party isn't truly capitalist. Illegal and other sources of foreign labor are welfare for their largest donors. Now that they're in power, they could stop it in a day -- but they don't. That the Minute Men are needed is evidence.
I'm going to need employees eventually, and I dread it like nothing else; the taxes, paperwork, etc., isn't something to look forward to. I would NOT hire illegals, however, no matter what the circumstances. If I was to cheat, I'd do it All-American, by golly!
You don't.
You make an omelet. A Denver omelet sounds nice. :-)
Nicely expressed points, though.
Cudos, very well said!
in kentucky we are a little short on migrate workers and they get around $15 to $20 an hour cash on construction sites.
i guess the free market works for them here. i wonder how pissed they will be when the new batch of migrates show up and drive their price down?
I had a home built a year ago, in North Texas:
Americans built it - there was no Spanish on the job site, but neither did I pay more than the going rate for construction labor around here.
Now that it's complete, an American picks up my garbage.
An American mows my grass.
And if you went down to "the gazebo" to hire some day-labor, you'd find that nobody there will work for less than $10 an hour!
Well, I have seen quite a few illegals around here, and they are working in gas stations, construction, as auto mechanics, store clerks, etc. and yes, americans WILL do those jobs, we dont need illegals to do them. We have american born people who will gladly put a new roof on your house, or fix your car. Why would anyone think no american would do those jobs?
I don't. Thanks for proving my point!
I was talking to a fellow a while back who said he was getting in the electrical field because he couldn't survive as a residential construction contractor any more. He'd been a contractor for 15 years who used only American laborers. He told me that the illegal crews not only undercut his bids, but they'd also supply every nail on the project. The only local area of construction that he could see to escape this was electrical. This is in the state of Alabama. 15 years ago, about the only Hispanic folks you ever saw here were some seasonal produce workers. This fellow told me that now not only is he seeing Americans working Mexicans, but he's seen some 100% Mexican crews. Even the contractors are Hispanic.
And just to re-iterate a very important point made above:
"Anybody who employs an illegal alien is a crook. And a traitor. And a backstabber."
If you employ illegal aliens, you are breaking the law AND contributing to a major problem in our society.
You know, I did most of the jobs illegals do now when I was working my way through school. The difference, of course, is that I didn't have to pass half my earnings on to some crew boss because it was either that or worry about being deported. Or does anyone really believe that employers of illegals "pass the savings on to you"?
This is a nice, succinct article.
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