So Bush's guest-worker program would temporary legalize immigrants that are working here, but then kick them out after some number of years with no path to citizenship.
He's been quoted as saying--and Mexican president Vicente Fox has been quoted as saying--these immigrants, Hispanics mostly, are "doing jobs Americans will not do."
But anybody that knows anything about economics will, I hope, see that that's bullshit. I read an article once in the CSM where some farmer was whining that his tomatoes went unpicked. All the politicians say that Americans will do the jobs but they simply aren't open to them; to prove them wrong, he posted a job listing for 200 fruit-picking jobs, and the next day only one honky showed up, and that white person left before lunchtime.
But I think that's bullshit. One farmer in one place in California puts up an ad for a single day, and thinks that he's singlehandedly won the issue and proven both presidents' point? That is the straw man fallacy in action. Permit me to be bold in saying this: there are no jobs that Americans won't do. In America we have honeydippers, we have jizzmoppers, we have plumbers, we have correctional facility guards, we have aides to the President... all these jobs that are unenviable, you know, we have them, and we have people that do them. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. There is no such thing as a labor shortage. There is only a labor shortage at a specific wage. OK, fruitpicking is hard work. But I'd do it at the drop of a hat this summer if I could be guaranteed eight-hour days, restroom breaks, and a good wage.
If you aren't making money enough to afford that, Joe Farmer, get the fuck out of the business. It's no justification to use illegal workers, pay them a pittance, and then whine that Americans won't do it. If you can't afford it, then we should be buying Ecuadorian tomatoes, because they have farmers that can afford it, that desperately want to sell us their products.
farming & Immigration & economics
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mkilly
- Ice Cream Man
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farming & Immigration & economics
"It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards." Søren Kierkegaard
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Lunkhead
- You're No Good
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Making the illegal migrant workers temporarily legal but still exploitable is just a copout way of trying to make it possible for American tomato farm owners to profit a little while longer at the expense of non-citizen workers. It isn't really going to address the problem the American tomato farm owners have, which is that they're competing with tomato farm owners in other countries where costs are lower (because of lower costs of living and lower wages, and because of looser or non-existent labor/health/safety/environmental laws).
Ultimately we just won't be able to have American tomatos if we don't create an environment in which Americans can grow tomatos here and make a living at it. If we really want to have American tomatos (or any other product farmed/manufactured here), then we might have to put tarriffs on tomato imports, start social programs to benefit American tomato farmers and farm workers, develop more, smaller, more efficiently managed tomato farms that actually grow premium tomatos, start campaigns encouraging people to eat American tomatos, pay more for tomatos as consumers, lower the profit expectations of tomato farm owners and the cost of living of the workers, etc. etc.
Otherwise we'll just have to continue accepting the fact that the products we buy are made wherever it's cheapest to make them, no matter what the cost to the workers or the environment and no matter what the long term cost to our economy of the loss of industries that actually produce goods.
Ultimately we just won't be able to have American tomatos if we don't create an environment in which Americans can grow tomatos here and make a living at it. If we really want to have American tomatos (or any other product farmed/manufactured here), then we might have to put tarriffs on tomato imports, start social programs to benefit American tomato farmers and farm workers, develop more, smaller, more efficiently managed tomato farms that actually grow premium tomatos, start campaigns encouraging people to eat American tomatos, pay more for tomatos as consumers, lower the profit expectations of tomato farm owners and the cost of living of the workers, etc. etc.
Otherwise we'll just have to continue accepting the fact that the products we buy are made wherever it's cheapest to make them, no matter what the cost to the workers or the environment and no matter what the long term cost to our economy of the loss of industries that actually produce goods.
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mc3p0
- Somebody Get Me A Doctor
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There is huge "glut" of minimum wage workers and magically no jobs. There are fewer high-paid professionals, but they are increasing their earnings because fewer people are able to get those jobs. Technical support positions which once were $12-16/hour are now $7.50-$8. This is a "program" to eliminate you, your job and your possible middle-class future. Assassinate this president, assassinate that president, etc. but the next American AND Mexican ones had better destroy the monopolies and for ONCE do the right thing before we reach an inescapable depression worse than most of Mexico.
(no, xanax will not be available either, you don't earn enough for medical coverage)
(no, xanax will not be available either, you don't earn enough for medical coverage)
"The toot of a flute with the flavour of fruit!" - Caractacus Potts, 1968