“Screwing the Democratic Party Base” and Economics 101

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

“Screwing the Democratic Party Base” and Economics 101

Post by johnkarls »

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Three of BillV’s Questions (please see “Illegal Immigration = Topic for Jan 15” above for all 7 questions) may require some explanation for those of us who were not economics majors (full disclosure – “yours truly” was an econ major) –

First question - Are "limousine liberals" once again "screwing the Democratic Party base" (please pardon my French) by championing the cause of illegal immigrants on the assumption that African-Americans "have nowhere to go"?

Fourth question - Isn't the illegal employment of "undocumented aliens" by American employers really a form of "out sourcing" American jobs that can't physically be moved to low-wage nations such as China and India?

Fifth question - Isn't our society immoral to permit American employers to illegally hire "undocumented aliens" under de facto "slave labor" conditions just so that we can enjoy lower prices at the grocery store, etc.?

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American employers who are fond of violating federal law by employing illegal aliens love to spread propaganda that illegal aliens are only taking jobs that Americans don’t want.

Indeed, Jay Leno poked fun at this propaganda in one of his monologue jokes earlier this fall claiming that there are many illegal-alien hookers in L.A. – but not to worry, they are only “doing” American males that American hookers won’t “do”!!!

The lie is put to this propaganda by the old “Economics 101” principle that “everything has its price”!!!

Consider for a moment whether you think American farmers would have trouble finding American citizens to fill every available opening if the going wage were $1 million/hour.

Obviously not.

Accordingly, Economics 101 would hold that there is an equilibrium price for agricultural labor at which the demand would equal the supply. Who knows whether that equilibrium wage would be closer to $10/hour or $30/hour – and who knows how much prices might rise at the grocery store to reflect that labor cost (with higher grocery prices, of course, reducing the demand for agricultural products and, in turn, agricultural labor).

But BillV’s point is valid – that we are kidding ourselves if we believe the propaganda of American business and permit American employers to UNDER-PRICE American workers with illegal-immigrants SO THAT WE CAN PAY CHEAPER PRICES AT THE GROCERY STORE!!!

*****

As a historical footnote, African Americans were the bulk of the agricultural workers in America until World War II.

None of us should have to be reminded about how most agricultural workers in America until the Civil War were African-American slaves.

During the 80 years between the end of the Civil War and the end of World War II, most of the agricultural workers in America continued to be African Americans.

With regard to the last point, I would call attention to the 1999 movie “Cider House Rules” starring Tobey Maguire and Charleze Theron. For those of us who don’t want to read long historical tomes on tangential points and who may have seen “Cider House Rules” (or might have time to be entertained by it before Jan 10), Tobey Maguire’s character is an orphan who has been informally trained as a doctor, but wants to “find himself” by performing agricultural work. He is constantly ridiculed for engaging in a low-wage profession inhabited almost solely by African Americans, several of whom are major characters in the movie. (World War II is the time frame for the story - Tobey Maguire becomes romantically involved with Charleze Theron, whose fiancé is away fighting in WW-II.)

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