Cheap Labor?

Question

Is there really such a thing? Look at the true cost off cheap illegal labor and you'll see that it's only cheap for the wealthy. In America all the way up into the 70's all of the service jobs and lower paying, unskilled jobs were done by Americans. So you look at what we have now with cheap mexican labor from the south moving north through the country, all the jobs they are doing at a fraction of the cost that Americans formerly worked for. Who does this cheap labor benefit? certainly not the lower and working classes. It benefits the upper classes, the corporations and all business owners looking to make more money. This is not sustainable in the long run. The cost is tremendous in terms of public funds going to support illegals and low income Americans. I just want to know if anyone else out there can see what this is doing.

Your homework: scour the help wanted ads and see how many jobs out there will support an unskilled worker and his family of four in you area?

Tense, no
Passionate, yes
Don't try to blow smoke up my ***, I know

scorpion77074 - very good point, I just see society in America eroding around me, there is a sense of apathy with a lot of people in my generation about the state of things in daily American life. I don't blame illegals for everything, but they certainly aren't the solution. I don't want cheap strawberries, they don't taste as good.

Daisy - I've seen your posts before and I know that we agree. I keep coming here like you wanting to rant and rave because I just have to say what I know is true. I am outraged by the current state of things for all Americans, what of the future? We have a voice, we need to let out, even if it is 1:25 in the morning here. GMT

antmanbee - I agree 100% I'm pissed too

I'm so tired of hearing, "we pick your crops, we clean your toilets, we cook your food, we build your houses, we do the jobs you don't want to do!"
What a load of crap, the answer is, " no we don't, not for that wage, we don't want to live 10 deep in a crappy apartment while we make some fuc*er rich!"

How did the U.S. ever get by without cheap mexican labor?
Answer: Just fine, and a lot better

Lana - whoa, c'mon don't get bent out of shape for no good reason

I'm a proud naturalized U.S. citizen from Canada with Scotish/Geman roots and a bit of Malaseet/Mohawk for good measure. I'm the quintessential northern European white boy with a little flavoring. I love this country and fought to be here.

FLHRCI - right on!, I am thankful for people like you who understand, it gives me hope. thanks

pax veritas - or (truth peace) what an impersonal post or cut and paste. I see what their goal is, but understanding it full doesn't make it so. I am a person, not a machine. Type your thoughts in relation to your surroundings, be a human, not an automaton.

Answer 1

I agree with you, also factor in that America does not manufacture anything anymore we are really at the behest of foreign government in China and India as our money flows into their coffers. American manufacturers in their greed are selling us out, for political donations our elected officials are selling us out for money, Americans need to wake up the middle class is becoming a dying breed as we switch to a "service" economy where no one build but works as janitors, nurses, garbage men and such. No way will we stay the richest nation on earth if we do not build and only import.

Answer 2

Dude, that is very good. The same reasons it is so hard to see this, is what has taken over this countries government and media. BIG BUSINESS. Corporations own all the media outlets that control the flow of information that sways public opinion and suppresses whatever doesn't make corporate money. The corporations control the politicians with "campaign contributions" and that pushes through laws that steal your tax money, that in turn feeds the corporations. The workingman subsidizes the cost of the cheap labor with tax money spent on social services that are provided to the illegal alien slave wage workforce. The only real people that profit from this vicious cycle are the CEO's and upper executives. The sad part is the corporations don't have loyalty to a country or any person. This type of corporation is an entity made to feed off of the very people that help make it stronger. It’s not a person, it is a thing created by people. The only way to stop this monster is to enforce the labor laws that exist right now. Trouble is, that the people charged with enforcing the laws, are the very people profiting from breaking them. This corruption reaches clear up to the President himself. It will never stop until the laws are enforced. If it's not stopped, it will devastate us all, and take our country with it.

Answer 3

Exactly! I don't know why more people do not seem to understand this! I agree completely with you and also with what J Diesel had to say here. It is not so hard to see that this labor is NOT cheap because it is subsidized by the taxpayers with all the social freebies illegal immigrants receive by way of food stamps, free medical care, subsidized housing, free schooling, etc. This labor is anything BUT cheap! The illegal immigrants do NOT spend the bulk of their earnings in the USA as they send as much of it as they can back to their home countries so, besides not helping our tax base, they also do not even help our economy by spending their earnings here. I get so tired of hearing about how our fruits and veggies will be so much more expensive without the "cheap" slave labor! What a pile of doo doo that line is! The so-called "savings" of this cheap labor is not and never has been passed on to the consumers - the "savings" go directly into the pockets of the business owners and CEOs. The price of products will NOT go up noticeably and what little they may go up will only be temporary until the economy adjusts but as more American citizens would take these jobs at decent wages (which the employers would eventually have to be forced to pay) and this would stimulate the economy by reducing the welfare roles and increasing the money spent in our economy by these newly working citizens who would NOT be sending their earnings out of the country. Our hospitals and schools would improve and costs of the social subsidies to the present illegal immigrants would disappear. Our economy would be stronger than ever!

First and foremost, our laws regarding punishment of employers of illegal immigrants need to be enforced. I have heard nothing much more in the news since the Swift raids - was this just a little attempt to make Americans think that our laws are now being enforced? It didn't work for me as I would need to see these things in our news on a daily basis and in larger and larger numbers than just that one little blitz.

Answer 4

If you think the illegals work cheaper then you are fooling yourself.
Americans work cheaper.
Go to any of those day labor places....Labor ready for instance...they work for alot less than illegals...they work for the minimum wage.

Go to Home Depot and see what the illegals will work for.
You might get somebody to pull weeds for 8 bucks an hour.
(and that is a "might")
A drywaller 15 bucks plus.
And that is cash money.

When we start throwing employers that employ illegals in jail is when they going to start doing things the way they are supposed to.
And then they can sit in jail cell trying to rationalize their felony with the tired old lament about Americans don't work hard enough or cheap enough.

Answer 5

You are absolutely right on being cheap is for the wealthy, which is probably why they are so rich. Inflation is going up every year and gas prices are taking off like a rocket. In Canada we spell labor with a 'u' making it labour. Why? Because we are not cheap to know it is u and I that are going to make a difference.

Answer 6

you are right.....illegals are really not benefitting America as a whole, they are helping themselves and the already rich businesses and corporations. Their pay is basically tax free as they probaby work on cash, this does not help the government. They could be criminals. This does not help the community they live in. They will want benefits such as health care and free education, this will definitely not help the already conjested classes.
All of the above are valid points as far as i see, illegal immigration has to stop. This country runs on tax payers dollars. Illegals dont pay taxes and will hurt the economy in the long run. America is getting hit hard with illegals on side and job out sourcing on the other. Whats going on?

Answer 7

Cheap labor must be prohibited because it jeopardizes the jobs of the citizens. Minimum wage must pegged and followed to the letter so that labor will be standardized. Legal or illegal, the wage must be standard.

Answer 8

your right. the rich are only getting richer. and the poor are hurting because of the cheep labor workers. we need to demand are govt and president do something. are country is crumbling around us.

Answer 9

Well, if I finish school and get a degree I will be a skilled laborer and I will probably appreciate the low cost of a carwash done by immigrants.

Of course, there are even cheaper carwashes done by machines. At least with immigrants, some PERSON is at least making the money directly rather than having the money siphoned automatically into corporate coffers, right?

Um, also, you and I might enjoy some yummy strawberries grown by immigrants in America. They grow 'em cheap and we get some nice desert, huh? If we didn't have immigrants, then strawberries would cost too much to grow in America, and they would just grow them in Mexico and import them to the U.S. So we can either have mexicans growing strawberries in Mexico or Mexicans growing them in the U.S. I'd rather have my strawberries U.S. grown, for health reasons. Plus, the mexicans making their living in the U.S. spend their money in the U.S., whereas the Mexicans making their money in Mexico get our dollars and spend them in Mexico. Isn't the trade deficit big enough already?

I'm not saying it's all good. It might be really bad. I can't say. I'm still trying to understand, myself. So I don't want to take a side until I really understand.

Answer 10

Nobody even read your stupid paragraph. The first few words told us you are illegal. Get the hell out of our country alien. Go back to your own kind.