Would seem a good economy would dictate you let people take jobs, if they are willing to work.
The problem we have, though, is that workers are pouring across the border to take jobs at reduced wages, taking the jobs from those already in America.
So, do we chase the Mexican worker back to Mexico? I say, no.
I believe it better to give him the job. We probably could mention economic reasons, such as he will add to the economy by buying goods and services while he is here. In some cases, the job he takes is not one in which the wage has been higher and he is lowering it, but rather it is a job that pays a low wage if it is to exist as a job at all -- at least as a job in the United States, anyway.
If you don't think there are jobs that can only be filled by less expensive labor than what Americans are willing to work for, consider all the products made overseas, where labor is cheaper. There are a number of products made overseas for which there are no American-made products on the market as alternatives.
But the real reason for giving the immigrant the job is not economic, but humanitarian. It just doesn't seem right to see a person who is so desperate for work that he is willing to work for a low wage, and willing to move hundreds of miles to take the job, and to tell him, no.
You don't treat people like that. If they are wanting to do something good, like support their families, I don't care if they are coming from another country, let them work. What is right and wrong is not the same as what makes money. Just as we as individuals do not think how we treat others should depend on whether it makes us richer, so should our nation be a nation of high principles as it deals with immigration.
I say that instead of chasing these people away, we find it in our hearts to make it legal for them to work here.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Would 'Goodness Economics' Work?
You who believe in education, not legislation, tell me if your plan will work.
On the minimum wage.
Our problem is that the minimum wage is a contributing factor to jobs being sent overseas. I say it is healthy to keep these jobs on American soil.
So, what do we do?
What if our concern for the working class rose to the level of buying the more-expensive products over the less-expensive ones? What if we were willing to buy one brand simply because the manufacturer paid its workers well? What if we valued this enough that we set aside our need for low prices, and instead bought the product that paid its employees fair wages?
You say it will never be done. I say, if we decide to do this, it can be done. There are enough good people to make it work. If we educate the public, telling them which products are made by manufacturers offering respectable wages, if we educated the public as to why this is important, enough people will sacrifice -- will pay the higher price -- in order to bring back a portion of these industries to the United States.
Keep the minimum wage or throw it away, but make a spirited public appeal to the goodness of the consumer to support the products made at higher wages. Identify such products, spread the word, and a portion of the populace will support them. Do not denegrade those who continue to buy the lesser-costing items, as they are supporting workers, too. But, if by some long-shot chance we persuade such a large portion of consumers to pay the higher prices, the makers of the lower-priced items will be persuaded to raise their prices to cover paying their own workers better.
This would be a new kind of economy, still a market-driven economy, but one driven by the public's desire to do good, as opposed to just by prices. I'll call it Goodness Economics.
(Post updated Oct. 6)
On the minimum wage.
Our problem is that the minimum wage is a contributing factor to jobs being sent overseas. I say it is healthy to keep these jobs on American soil.
So, what do we do?
What if our concern for the working class rose to the level of buying the more-expensive products over the less-expensive ones? What if we were willing to buy one brand simply because the manufacturer paid its workers well? What if we valued this enough that we set aside our need for low prices, and instead bought the product that paid its employees fair wages?
You say it will never be done. I say, if we decide to do this, it can be done. There are enough good people to make it work. If we educate the public, telling them which products are made by manufacturers offering respectable wages, if we educated the public as to why this is important, enough people will sacrifice -- will pay the higher price -- in order to bring back a portion of these industries to the United States.
Keep the minimum wage or throw it away, but make a spirited public appeal to the goodness of the consumer to support the products made at higher wages. Identify such products, spread the word, and a portion of the populace will support them. Do not denegrade those who continue to buy the lesser-costing items, as they are supporting workers, too. But, if by some long-shot chance we persuade such a large portion of consumers to pay the higher prices, the makers of the lower-priced items will be persuaded to raise their prices to cover paying their own workers better.
This would be a new kind of economy, still a market-driven economy, but one driven by the public's desire to do good, as opposed to just by prices. I'll call it Goodness Economics.
(Post updated Oct. 6)
Does Minimum Wage Chase Jobs Out of America?
Okay, what if there were a minimum wage? (Somewhere, actually, it seems I've heard there is one.)
One must wonder what would happen. I know I look at the economic indicators we hear about all the time and wonder but what they don't reflect the minimum wage.
Things like the trade deficit.
Now, what is this I heard on the Doug Wright Show this morning? Something about how if you threw out all the items in your home, and sought to replace them with made-in-America products, for the large part, it would be a difficult task.
Too many things are made overseas. Too many things don't even have a version of them made in America.
Now, it might be all too simplistic to blame all those jobs going overseas on the minimum wage. Surely, it is. That is, it is too simplistic to blame ALL the problem on the minimum wage. It is too simplistic to say ALL the jobs we are losing to foreign labor would be kept here in America if only we didn't have minimum wage laws.
But, it makes sense they are part of the problem. So, wake up America. You don't have to say, we should drop the minimum wage, but at least recognize the results. If we were to have cheaper labor, more of the labor could be done here in America.
We'd have more jobs to offer our people.
Now, run that up the flag pole, telling people you know how to create more jobs, and how to keep jobs in America. I'm not sure it is going to fly.
Well, anyway, we all know the flip side. We all know why we don't raise the minimum wage. We know more people in America would be roped into low-paying jobs. Instead of people in far away places such as Indonesia performing "slave labor," it would be our own people. Do we really want that?
I bid ye a night, and promise to come back with some more thoughts on this topic.
One must wonder what would happen. I know I look at the economic indicators we hear about all the time and wonder but what they don't reflect the minimum wage.
Things like the trade deficit.
Now, what is this I heard on the Doug Wright Show this morning? Something about how if you threw out all the items in your home, and sought to replace them with made-in-America products, for the large part, it would be a difficult task.
Too many things are made overseas. Too many things don't even have a version of them made in America.
Now, it might be all too simplistic to blame all those jobs going overseas on the minimum wage. Surely, it is. That is, it is too simplistic to blame ALL the problem on the minimum wage. It is too simplistic to say ALL the jobs we are losing to foreign labor would be kept here in America if only we didn't have minimum wage laws.
But, it makes sense they are part of the problem. So, wake up America. You don't have to say, we should drop the minimum wage, but at least recognize the results. If we were to have cheaper labor, more of the labor could be done here in America.
We'd have more jobs to offer our people.
Now, run that up the flag pole, telling people you know how to create more jobs, and how to keep jobs in America. I'm not sure it is going to fly.
Well, anyway, we all know the flip side. We all know why we don't raise the minimum wage. We know more people in America would be roped into low-paying jobs. Instead of people in far away places such as Indonesia performing "slave labor," it would be our own people. Do we really want that?
I bid ye a night, and promise to come back with some more thoughts on this topic.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Love the Criminal, or Face Him Again
If you would change a person, you must love him first.
I don't pretend to know all, or to be perfect in how I treat others, but I do know love is an element we, in large part, leave out of our correctional system. Where is the love for the criminal? You might laugh that I should even ask. Why would we be soft and tender toward murderers, and arsonists, and burglars, and rapists?
Why would we even give them the time of day? If we are to love them, we must give them our time. What is that public service ad in the Homefront series? "Give them everything. Give them your time."
The thought is that if you love your children, you will give them your time.
It is no different with criminals. If we, as a society, are to love them, we must visit them. I think of the scripture where a person asks Christ, "When saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
I think of the studies of how babies respond to love, and of how they need love. Adults are no different. They respond -- become better people -- when shown love.
Why would we leave this out of our equation, then, in our corrections system? Love is vital, if we are to rehabilitate the criminal.
I don't pretend to know all, or to be perfect in how I treat others, but I do know love is an element we, in large part, leave out of our correctional system. Where is the love for the criminal? You might laugh that I should even ask. Why would we be soft and tender toward murderers, and arsonists, and burglars, and rapists?
Why would we even give them the time of day? If we are to love them, we must give them our time. What is that public service ad in the Homefront series? "Give them everything. Give them your time."
The thought is that if you love your children, you will give them your time.
It is no different with criminals. If we, as a society, are to love them, we must visit them. I think of the scripture where a person asks Christ, "When saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
I think of the studies of how babies respond to love, and of how they need love. Adults are no different. They respond -- become better people -- when shown love.
Why would we leave this out of our equation, then, in our corrections system? Love is vital, if we are to rehabilitate the criminal.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Too Many of Us Don't Make it Out Alive
What if 41 percent of everyone did not make it out alive? In New York City, it can be argued, 41 percent of everyone, indeed, do lose their lives before they can get out.
Out of their mother's womb, that is, not out of New York City. (Although someone is going to suggest I would be quite right to say out of NYC.) Forty-one percent of all pregnancies in NYC end in abortion, if the statistics are accurate. That's almost half the babies being trashed.
Nationwide, I believe, the figure is close to 20 percent, as about 20 percent of us "don't make it out alive." Can I call it a mortality rate? Well someone should make a T-shirt with the message, "Save the 20 percent of us who aren't making it out alive" or, "1 in 5 of us does not make it out alive. Care for the ones who don't. End abortion."
http://www.abort73.com/gear/shirts/in_nyc_41_dont_make_it_out_alive_v-neck/
Out of their mother's womb, that is, not out of New York City. (Although someone is going to suggest I would be quite right to say out of NYC.) Forty-one percent of all pregnancies in NYC end in abortion, if the statistics are accurate. That's almost half the babies being trashed.
Nationwide, I believe, the figure is close to 20 percent, as about 20 percent of us "don't make it out alive." Can I call it a mortality rate? Well someone should make a T-shirt with the message, "Save the 20 percent of us who aren't making it out alive" or, "1 in 5 of us does not make it out alive. Care for the ones who don't. End abortion."
http://www.abort73.com/gear/shirts/in_nyc_41_dont_make_it_out_alive_v-neck/
Monday, October 1, 2012
To Learn a Life of Crime, Go to Prison
I ask, how wise is it to put people together who are criminals? Shall we let them establish friendships that might be extended once they are out? Shall we let them discuss their ideas for crime with each other, sharing thoughts on what works and what doesn't? Shall we let them teach each other best methods? Yes, this is a wonderful, idea, putting them together so they can share trade secrets, network with each other, and come out new, improved and better fortified at what they do.
Our prisons are incubators for crime. If a person wants to learn about science or law or journalism, or English or music or art, he can go to college.
But, if he wants to learn about crime, he can go to prison. Prison is where the criminal goes to get his Ph.D.
You are no better than the company you keep, it is said, and what we are rubs off on each other. So, why, if we want our prisoners to be rehabilitated, would we put them in with such good company? Forgive, but it is a prison system that never got thought through thoroughly.
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