Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Old McDonald Had a...

...international free-trade incident a-brewin', apparently.

Oh, the irony. "Minute-man" types want to put a new Berlin wall along the Rio Grande, while farmers, who are hardly a bunch of birkenstock-wearing, tofu-and-granola-chomping liberals, are saying they need Mexican workers to maintain Americans' cheap-chubby way of life. It makes for grand theater, potentially: tighty-righties will sell their own grandmas if it makes them an extra buck or two, but unless they allow Mexican workers to enter the US freely, they (and we) will start to see a chain reaction of cost increases. Not just produce; no way, Jose. It will effect all the other goods and services touched by farming. Foods of all kinds, canned, bottled & jarred. Oils. Pet foods. The trucking industry, and all the business touched by that. It'll be something to see, alright.

My opinion about illegal immigration? Glad you asked. Here 'tis: I believe we are citizens of the planet. I believe we should all be able to cross borders freely, without restrictions, and live and work wherever we want and/or are able to, limited only by our ablity to learn a language or a trade.

Sometimes, conservatives are still heard to say that America was built on such opportunity, that it is one of the most important facets of American character. Why are so many "conservatives" now afraid to live in a country like the one they claim to honor? Oh, that's right - in the age of terror, those same conservatives are the most terrified of all.

2 comments:

The Future Was Yesterday said...

I suspect either way the pendulum swings, "cheap labor" will be the excuse for price increases on most anything. "Of course the Mexicans coming across the border make gasoline! Didn't you know that?"

Everybody seems to be blaming the Mexicans crossing the border, for various ills. What about the businesses hiring those Mexicans knowing and willingly, and then paying them far substandard wages? We had pretty cheap food when there were very few Mexicans for hire. Just one more ripoff of humanity.

azgoddess said...

as soon as china enacts it's honest wage for honest work initiative

we'll be begging our southern neighbors to open up

but by then, mr. chavez will have whispered in their ear...

slowly smiling