The Kosovo Serbs used to enjoy all that cheap Albanian labor too.....but the Albanians never went home, instead they brought in all of their extended families.
The American Southwest will be America's Kososvo in 20 years.
This is an excellent point, and a core reason Free Trade, in the end, is a loser for America.
How do FT'ers think the millions of third world people feel about Americans as they work their 18 hour days for pennies, sewing our new PJ's in some sweat factory?
Talk about the Ugly American.
FT is an economic " petre dish" for future anti-American terrorists.
I think that the power structure knows this and is all in favor of it, even the guys who used to be against it. When Sam Brownback talks about the United States being the third largest country behind China and India, he means it. So what if we don't like it? Democracy failed. 80% of the people are against continued mass immigration, but the laws have it on autopilot, and since no politician wants to appear "anti-immigrant" (they vote, don't wanna be called racist, etc), no throttling of the system is possible.
I think they know all this, and have decided that it's a good thing, and they're just trying to manage the friction (like Sept. 11) with police state tactics. Eventually, with 400-500 million people, an army of mmmmmmmm, 4 - 5 million special forces types and hi-tech weaponry, and they (or their children) will be sitting on top of the biggest empire ever. Voting will be considered a joke that appeases the credulous - real power will continue to reside with the created oligarchs.
The New Immigration Police State, in a new Rome with Nukes.