Saturday, April 29, 2006

To walk, or not to walk?

I am a US born, Mexican. At, least that is what I consider myself. Having been raised in Mexico, I always considered myself an immigrant to this great country.

I am debating whether to "walk out" on Monday or not. I'm not sure this is going to work.
These low-wage workers need to get paid. They have no sick leave, no vacation time to take. They get paid by the day! It's a good idea. The point to prove: The US economy will suffer without this particular caste of workers. Let's not be naive though, as needed as they are, this country has always proven it can adapt to anything. The US will just find other sources of cheap labor. Both sides are as guilty in this particular case:

MEXICO
1. Cannot continue to depend on another country to provide work for it's unemployed masses.
2. The Mexican economy and labor law needs a MASSIVE overhaul.
3. The bureaucracy needs to be converted in favor of small businesses.
4. The unions are choking Mexican industry and simply stated not enough jobs are being created.
6. Mexico needs to lower its birth rate. The fastest growing segment of its population is the poorest, the one with the least access to education and opportunities.
7. Needs to teach English in its schools. I don't understand the resistance to bilingual (or trilingual) education in the Americas. The Europeans do this normally.
8. Mexico needs to respect its neighbor's borders. It is hypocritical for Mexican foreign policy to claim neutrality while the government turns a blind eye and in some cases assists illegal border crossings.

USA
1. The might and competitive nature of the US economy will always search out a way to lower operating cost. It's current solution; Low wage labor from where they can get it: Illegal Latin workers, South Asian clothing factories, Indian tech firms. Any deviation of this would put consumer prices beyond reach.
2. Needs to face reality. We need this labor. How do we formalize it without having costs skyrocket?
3. Get off the immigrant bashing. They are, and always have been the lifeblood of this country. I'm, tired of the argument that the previous migrant waves came in legally. Hello! The borders were open. All you had to do was go to Ellis Island. There is no current way to easy entry into this country.
4. Come up with a system. Quick! Get the immigrants to pay taxes and NOT have access to benefits for the first 5-10 years.
5. It is obvious immigrants work hard. Tax them and reward them.
6. Get off the "I hate Spanish" theme. Unfortunatley, in 1 or 2 generations these kids are completely assimilated and don't even speak Spanish. This is a shame!

MEXICAN immigrants:
1. Don't translate the US anthem to Spanish. It is a lack of respect. Your heart may be in Mexico, but your belly is in the US.



Well enough venting. So what do you think, should I walk or not?

9 Comments:

At 11:58 PM, Blogger Shaine Mata said...

Don't walk. Not because your voice shouldn't be heard, but because with the RGV being more than 90% Mexican, you'd be leaving us other Mexicans inconvenienced. I don't think this applies to the RGV.

If you work for "the man" and you want to stick it to him, maybe. But most of your boss's clients/customers are probably Mexican so you're sticking it to us too.

 
At 12:02 AM, Blogger Shaine Mata said...

Another point to consider, we need immigrants to contribute taxes to shore up social security. Otherwise, we are looking at a market crash when baby boomers start to retire around 2016.

 
At 7:39 AM, Blogger Junkbox said...

I had seen or read somewhere that without the illegal laborers the SS system would have already collapsed. You know, from alot of them using "borrowed" numbers.

I agree, we all need to pay taxes.

Another idea was to kill income tax and raise the sales tax nation wide. No way of getting around that.

I also believe recent immigrants should not have access to benefits until 5-10 years of residency.
Certain exceptions CAN apply.

 
At 9:31 PM, Blogger Shaine Mata said...

So, are you taking the day off?

 
At 10:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I believe that the very fact that we live in the RGV, so close to the Mexico border is even more reason to show our support to all immigrants.

There's also the option that if you cannot walk out from work you can do your part by not buying anything tomorrow. Boycott purchasing gas and whatever you buy on a daily basis. I purchased gas today, but not from Exxon/Mobil or Citgo. I decided to go with Valero, plus it was cheaper than the rest.

Remember if you can't walk out show your support by boycotting and refusing to buy anything tomorrow. Let's see what impact immigrants have on our economy.

 
At 2:02 PM, Blogger Junkbox said...

Can't... My pupils need me...

I have not spent a red cent today thought.

Let's push!

 
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