Americans contradict themself?

Question

capitalism it's bases on offer and demand .
so why Americans are so mad with the immigrant getting the job done for half price of what an American is willing to do it?

That is capitalism is alll about!!!
double standards maybe?

Answer 1

You are absolutely right that the U.S. socio-economic system abounds in contradictions and double standards. Sadly, you will also find that almost no average person has the requisite knowledge of economics, migration, gov't policies and other topics to make sense of it. And it's not that people lack intelligence--it really is a very large amount of knowledge to process. So people jump to false conclusions frequently. Let me try to explain some things. Keep in mind all along though, that the U.S. economy is nothing near a pure capitalist economy, and we don't practice "free trade."

When gaging the typical reactionary responses you'll find as answers to your question, keep in mind that most Americans are middle-to-lower class, in terms of income, and do not have college degrees or other professional qualifications. And most illegal immigrants to the U.S. have similar (lack of) qualifications. This means they are all competing for the same jobs at the lower levels of the economy--skilled and unskilled labor, and service jobs.

Because the majority of illegal immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico, I will use Mexicans as my example. Because the average Mexican comes from a country where s/he makes at most $2/hour, they are quite happy accepting a job that pays $6/hr. But in order to get by on this wage, Mexicans have to sleep 10 to a house/apt, and walk to work, etc. These lifestyle accomodations are things that are a few steps up for the Mexican, but would be a few steps down for most Americans. For their part, U.S. employers are very happy to have these docile, low-wage, no-benefit employees.

At the same time, many U.S. manufacturing jobs, jobs that had wages high enough to support families and had healthcare benefits, have disappeared overseas in the past 30 years. Now, even service jobs are being exported, jobs like call-center workers, for example. It truly is quite difficult for an average American to find work with sufficient wages to support him/herself, let alone a family.

The large numbers of illegal immigrants in the U.S., and the loss of manufacturing jobs, has led to real distortions in the economy, and has depressed wages for people in labor and service jobs in particular. If the Mexicans were prevented somehow from coming to the U.S., the reduction in labor supply would lead to increased wages for the people who are in the U.S. legally, and the average American knows this intuitively. This is the source of much of the hostility that some people have towards illegal immigrants.

Employers, for their part, also know this and they are very (quietly, not publicly) opposed to anything that will reduce their supply of cheap and cooperative labor. American labor management is for the most part very sophisticated, and should not be believed when they claim they don't understand supply-and-demand effects on wages, or that they didn't know that their employees are illegal immigrants. American employers demand to do exactly as they please without interference from government or employees. Illegal Mexican workers fit the needs of American labor management to have cheap employees who will do as they're told (upon threat of being turned in to immigration authorities if they do not cooperate). It really is an extension of a slavery type economy.

Now, if the entire economy were based on these types of jobs, there might not be much of an issue, because everybody would be making roughly the same wages, creating equal demand for various goods and services. But that is absolutely not the case in the U.S. While we export manufacturing jobs and import cheap labor for construction and restaurants, we retain a professional class of workers for whom these same rules don't apply. Doctors, lawyers and many other degreed professionals are not subject to competition from overseas workers at all. These people make very high wages, and their incomes lead to increased prices for everything from cars to housing to food. Manufacturers, looking for the highest profits, tend to produce goods and services that appeal to this high-end, rather than the low end, leading to shortages of goods that low-income people can afford. Wal-Mart is an exception to this rule, which is why it is so incredibly popular with the working-class majority in this country. Wal-Mart shows that it is possible to make money while serving the portion of society that doesn't have so much disposable income. But overall, the effect is that the minority who has a lot of money makes it difficult for the majority with a little money to make ends meet.

I'm sure there are plenty of highly competent and educated people in India or Great Britain, for just two examples, who are skilled in medicine, law, accountancy or other things, and who speak English well enough to be an immediate asset to the U.S. economy. Were they permitted to emigrate to the U.S. and begin practicing (and they most certainly are not permitted to do so), their combined numbers would lead to increased supply, and therefore, decreased costs for professional services, thereby leveling off the imbalanced wage structure in the U.S.

So one of the most damaging double standards in the economy is that, at the bottom of the ladder, people have to compete with immigrants for jobs and wages, but at the top, they do not. This means that there is a true shortage of wage money available for those at the bottom.

Keep in mind that the bottom to which I refer is very large--constituting millions of people and a big percentage of the working-age population of the U.S. (sorry I don't have stats on this). In a country as large as ours--over 300 million people--it is nevertheless possible to find several exceptions to every rule. So what the media often does is find those people who exemplify the American Dream of hard work and success, without paying any heed whatsoever to the far greater number of people who are in much more difficult circumstances, for whom hard work and living by the rules haven't led to financial success. And it's the same all over the world--nobody pays much attention to the poor.

This antagonism of Americans towards immigrants, especially illegal ones, comes from this sense that they are competing for the same limited jobs and wages. However, they usually voice their objections in terms of culture and fear. For instance, Mexicans are claimed to have a number of behaviors that mainstream Americans find offensive, or it is claimed (without any evidence to support it, by the way), that Mexicans take more from the U.S. economy than they give, or that they are more criminal, or whatever. Really though, these are sham excuses that really hide the true issue, which is that many Americans cannot make ends meet financially anymore, and they don't really understand what is happening, and they are looking for somebody (preferably somebody powerless) to blame.

Answer 2

It's not about capitalism or having a double standard. It's about wanting our laws strictly enforced. It would only be a double standard if we expected Mexico or other countries to let us come freely and stay while they provide everything for us when we try to keep others out. We welcome the legal migrant who earns his citizenship - Not those who are only here to take and not give. Contradicting ourselves? I think not. We don't expect other countries to give us free hand outs or let us stay illegally.

"When I moved to Los Angeles years ago, one of the first things I noticed was that teenagers don’t seem to work here. You’ll find a few here and there but for the most part they do not work. Instead you find an adult Hispanic in their place with a thick accent working for minimum wage. Sure, they do a good job, they work hard, and they’re nice people but they’re taking jobs away from Americans. I worked these entry level jobs when I was in high school and college. I was a cook at Hooters, I worked in hotels as a maintenance man, I worked in grocery stores as a bagger, I was a pizza deliveryman, and I remember one miserable summer working in a shampoo factory putting caps on bottles in the suburbs of Minneapolis. The jobs that illegal aliens are taking are jobs that Americans will do. I know because I did them."

Answer 3

Neither capitalism nor double standards has anything to do with "breaking the law". Mexicans are coming into the USA w/o any respect whatsoever for the law. They go to the hospital knowing full well that they can get FREE treatment, under USA law, and not have to pay. That's premeditated THEFT. The hospital in turn raises prices for those of us who have insurance then it's as if we have "dependants" on our personal insurance policy. Mexicans are having babies 5 times the rate of Americans. There was a program recently on PBS which some PhD, so they're educated skilled professionals, who showed the future trend. The schools in the USA will NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP UP. There is already overcrowdedness and the teachers cannot control having way too many students. The Mexicans are flying the "mexican" flag above the USA flag, and then the USA flag is flown upsidedown. Mexicans are burning the American flag.

As an Army Veteran who served 32 years for the rights and freedoms of "real" Americans I resent the disrespect Mexicans have blasted the USA with.

They're coming into the USA is the equivalent of them showing up on your doorstep, breaking down the front door of your home, walking in, and saying.............."oh well, I'm illegal but I'm here to stay and you're going to pay my way".

How many more can the USA hold? Only one gallon fits into a one gallon container. The USA is overcrowded as it is now.

Answer 4

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up and take an economics class. This is something I really don't understand about the whole immigration issue; immigrants come to America for a better life, a lot of the time to escape poverty. But instead of offering them the good 'ole American Dream we pay them three dollars an hour to make a little extra profit. So what are we left with? Thousands of illegal immigrants who can't afford our standard of living because we're not paying them minimum wage. Not to mention that, in many cases, much of the money immigrants make is sent to family back home, where ever "home" may be. Poverty helps no one. Not even the "capitalists" who are making money off of cheap labor. I'm not for illegal immigration, for many reasons. But one of the main ones is I think it's almost racist to import thousands of foreigners only to doom them to "the jobs no one else will do" and a life in the slums.

Answer 5

That is not capitalism, it is undercutting the wages of American citizens by illegally hiring illegal aliens. Hiring illegal aliens is a violation of US law! Big business wants millions of illegals coming into the US so that they will keep down the wages of working class American citizens, and it has worked.

Their is no double standard towards legal aliens, it is the illegal aliens that the American people so rightly want to deport. Perhaps you should turn off Spanish TV as Governor Arnold recommends so that you can improve your English.

Answer 6

What you're describing is called laissez-faire capitalism. We do not practice that form of capitalism in the United States. If we did then both Americans and illegal aliens would have to fully pay for all the services they used.

Answer 7

I don't think people are upset about the labor that many immigrants are willing to do for half the price. I think people are upset about the fact that many of them do not pay taxes and yet their children attend public schools, get medical treatment and other government help.I am the daughter of immigrants and I work as an immigration paralegal but I see validity in people being upset about the issue. It's not fair that healthcare is not free for many americans, yet many new immigrants find ways to get free healthcare. It's not fair that our public school system is a mess to begin with and is being flooded with children whose parents do not pay taxes.

Answer 8

This has nothing to do with capitalism. It has to do with law and order. For the market to work correct I believe it must be based on set rules and illegal immigration is that illegal and the market is not as able to settle itself when unknown factors are thrown in its face like out of control illegal immigration.

Answer 9

satrapa: Allow me to suggest a few college courses so you can develop the understanding needed to properly discuss capitalism. Once you actually learn what and how capitalism functions you can make intelligent comments. Otherwise you only further hurt your cause. While you are there take an English and Writing class it too shall serve you well.

Answer 10

that's not a double standard and that's not capitalism. You obviously don't know why Americans are frustrated with illegal immigrants. Do some real research before you post some dumb crap like that

Answer 11

Because we don't believe in pure capitalism if it hurts individuals and (for some of us) the mistreatment of people working at very low wages and getting none of the benefits which we give reluctantly through employers and many other countries give through governments.