(Untitled)

[lhiana]

Borderlands again

My brain is a puddle of information as memory drags me back down a windy dirt path alongside a steel fence.  I stood there a few months ago wondering about “us” and “them,” about “here” and “there.”  I questioned hat it was that I was protesting, at good my presence was, how on Earth a group of people reading poems or

Comments

[fourstrongwinds]

There's a movie floating around called "A Day Without a Mexican". It's not that great a movie, but it does hit you over the head with the point that both illegal and legal mexican workers make a huge contribution to our society, and that many industries couldn't function without them

[lhiana]

I have heard this same line many different ways: "I think most of the jobs they fill are jobs no one else wants." and it's the one I have the hardest time rationalizing in my head. Are United Statesians really so haughty that they can't be bothered to work on farms, wash dishes, or do these other jobs that are seen as jobs for "migrants"? When did being born here become synonymous with "better than everyone else

[fourstrongwinds]

Well, I've worked on several farms and washed dishes at a couple places when I was younger. I don't particularly want those jobs as careers, do you? These jobs require minimal skills, language facility not being one of them. Hence they're filled by the folks with the lowest skill set, and if these folks are unable to learn new skills, they're stuck there. If immigrants were unavailable to fill them, then wages would rise a bit and more americans would fill them. Americans can also claim unemployment/disability/whatever other options exist, most immigrants can't

[lhiana]

Well, I've worked on several farms and washed dishes at a couple places when I was younger. I don't particularly want those jobs as careers, do you?

And yet, currently the national unemployment rate is at 5%, and those who are violently opposed to immigrants being here use them as part of their argument-- that illegals "steal jobs" from citizens (grudgingly admitting that these jobs generally go to "minorities" and high school students. They also accuse the immigrants of being responsible for overall lower wages.

By placing emphasis on "status," (and capitalism) our country encourages people to take jobs selling designer clothing made in third world country, rather than a job (such as farming) that actually has a practical function.

Like I said before, there's so much going on here that I'm not sure there IS a viable solution. But there's got to be a better way of doing things than what's happening now.

[theunquietnight]

Wow... this is a hot topic.

I'm not going to touch on it because I have views on both sides. Our laws, politics, and society as a whole has major problems. Unless we started living in a Brave New World , I don't think things are going to change much.

[lhiana]

it seems like very few people are willing to actually discuss this topic, probably because it IS so hopeless in terms of ever finding an acceptable resolution. It's frustrating. I don't post on it because I'm trying to spark controversy, I do it because I'm trying to figure out all sides of the issue. I posted this on my Myspace account and it dwindled down to name-calling between two people "debating" the topics. But it IS a hot topic, and I think it should be discussed. We're implementing "English Only" propositions, we've got men with guns (regardless of whether they're 'just observing' or not) out in the deserts scaring people and raising ruckus, and we've got a lot of inaccurate information floating around out there. I've been actively researching the topic, and I STILL don't know which information is true and which is just Internet babble that has gained enough credence