This was forwarded to me this morning, but it’s pretty much on the money, so I’ll put it up:
Let’s say I break into your house. Let’s say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, “I’ve made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I’ve done all the things you don’t like to do. I’m hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).”
According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family’s insurance plan and provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).
If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there. It’s only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I’m just trying to better myself. I’m hard-working and honest … um, except for … well, you know.
And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of selfishness, prejudiced and being anti-housebreaker.
Now, before anyone comes back with “It’s not that simple,” let me preemptively respond with “Yes, it IS.” The key word that people seem to keep missing here is illegal. These millions of “undocumented workers” broke our laws to get here. Period. The only way that I know how you could justify this is by saying they’re here by right of conquest and, as far a I know, Mexico’s President Fox insists we’re not at war with Mexico, so I guess that’s not it.
A coworker of mine asked a couple of years ago why I was against illegal immigration, and “shouldn’t anyone who wants to come here be allowed to?” I responded by asking him “if China decided to ship about 1 billion of their citizens over to live here overnight, would that be okay? No, that would be an invasion.” The we’re letting Mexico get away with this for several reasons: we “need” their cheap labor, they’re doing it gradually, they’re our allies, it was their land to begin with, and other insane justifications.
Incidentally, for an interesting read, just google “Mexico’s southern border” to see how Mexico deals with “undocumented workers” who try to get into their country.
I don’t know, I kind of like laws. They keep things orderly, by and large. In other parts of the world where they do not have a surpluss of cheap (read “Illegal”) laborers, they use technology to overcome the smaller workforce. Take, for example, Australia’s wine industry. Over 90% of their grapes are picked by machines. Yes, machines. They say here that we could never do that, we need the workers, etc. No, we CAN do that. Our technologists are just as good as Australia’s, if not better. We’re just to lazy to want to switch. If you’re interested in more, here’s a start on that topic.
As for whether having American citizens do the jobs that “no one wants to do,” I see where that may cause some upward shifts in hourly wages. Well, according to what I’m hearing from some of my more liberal friends, that’s exactly what they want! Living wage, etc., etc. So on that grounds, they should support tighter bans on illegal immigration. And, since these “undocumented” workers will now be “documented” (read: “paying taxes,”) that should add more money to the economy, which should make both major political parties happy.
So, as I see it, the people who stand to lose here are the ones who came here illegally.
The personal blog of Peter Nikolaidis