I found this video of a migrant worker camp in San Diego and if you can ignore the ignorant class warfare tone of the thing, it tells you quite a bit.
I would argue that it's not greed that fuels the businesses that hire these poor people, it's survival. If their profit margins were abnormally high, others would start similar businesses until that industry's profit margins reached parity with other opportunities for investment. Instead, the agricultural firms that employ these people need them to survive because they can't afford to pay legally mandated wages and benefits.
To me, this looks like another example of us lying to ourselves about how rich we are. We couldn't afford those homes, we can't afford all of our social programs, we can't afford multiple wars and we can't afford to legislate pay above the marginal value of the labor.
After we secure the border, we are probably going to need a sub-minimum wage to deal with this issue. We need to dampen the market forces driving illegal immigration to which you allude in your post.
ReplyDeleteToo right, B-Daddy. Bring back the Great Depression! That'll soon fix everything.
ReplyDeleteThey're illegals. Clear them the hell out!
ReplyDeleteYou or I tried "camping out" in Rose or Tecolote Canyon, we'd be tossed out on our ear.