I have thought a lot recently about immigration reform, and the proposal by Marco Rubio and the "gang of eight" to reform our immigration laws. I have listened to the arguments put forth by those on the right, for example Eric Bolling of Fox News' Five at Five. The right argues, if I may simplify, that we should not reward those who "broke our laws" with a path to citizenship. From a practical point of view, this would surely lead to more illegal immigrants, wanting to get the same deal, and diluting the American work force with "cheap labor" and swelling the welfare roles. As you may have noticed, the practical matters usually take a secondary role for me, as what really matters is the philospohy or rational behind what we do.
One of the things that I struggle with is why we as Americans, (or myself as a white man lucky enough to be born in St. Louis Missouri) are entitled to things that my good friend Leticia Zepeda, born in Mexicali Mexico, are not. She is a nice, very intelligent lady who works hard every day, rasies her kids and was just unlucky enough to be born there instead of here. By the way, she is not an illegal alien, she is a Mexican, working in Mexico, perhaps harder than I do. She has to deal with poor infrastructure and drug cartels, She does not get paid what I do and to buy a car is much harder for her than it is for me. Leticai is a happy lady. She loves her kids, doesn't drink (like I do anyway), does a better job of running her paint system than most of her American counterparts, and I do not hear her complain.
By contrast, I have heard lots of Americans complain about things that they have no right to complain about. I know a lot of Mexicans have crossed the border illegally to get to this country, and that is breaking our laws. But I know for a certainty that were I living in Nogales or Reynosa, where one of my operators explained that on on the salary he was being paid (which is a set amount for everyone working in that area of Mexico, set by local unions, less than $1.50 an hour), buying a car is not possible for him, I would cross the border illegally.
How can I blame someone for doing the same thing I would do? The drug cartel activity has been stifling (it has gotten a little better lately, but not much). Many of these people, as you have no doubt noticed, will work hard and do a really good job for what we consider a pretty low wage. By contrast, in my time in the automotive industry, I encountered a great number of folks who simply refused to work at all. What is wrong with Detroit? I could go on and on but I will offer one example; I used to have a paint operator who would get mad at me if I let him sleep through break, because that is when he ran his football pool. A white anglo saxon male, for those of you that care.
I have always said that what matters (to quote Dr. King), is the content of your character. You were born a certain skin color or size, and likewise you have no control over who your parents were or where they gave birth to you, or the shape or angle of your eyes. But the opinions you hold, your approach to hard work, and the way you treat others, that is up to you. In a perfect world the hardest working, most ethical people would be rewarded and the lazy people who feel entitled just because they exist would go hungry.
It means nothing to me that you were born in the United States. That entitles you to nothing. I struggle because I realize we have to have some control over our society or it will collapse under the wieght of too many people but someone will have to explain to me why the accident of your birth entitles you to more than the accident of someone else's birth.
The founders of this country established a system (the first time in history) where capitalism and democracy reigned, and men were judged by what they achieved rather than their status at birth. We do not have a class system, we do not have kings, we have an open, free society where people are judged by their worth to other men and society, not by skin color or caste system. Still today this is a rarity, compared to China, or India, or most places on earth. As a result, everyone wants to come here. They hunger for our SYSTEM, where they can prove themselves, while some (not all) of us take that for granted.
When Ms. Sebelius says we have a right to health care or whatever, just by virtue of being Americans, she undermines our system, and creates an environment where instead of wanting to come here for freedom and opportunity, people want to come here for goodies. Our rights come from God, they are inalienable. So it costs nothing for us to give illegal immigrants freedom of speech or religion. What Eric Bolling is concerned about is people coming here for welfare or health care or other things that WE MUST PROVIDE. If we were true to the principles this country was founded on, these immigrants would cost us nothing and conservatives would have nothing to fear but good men competing for their jobs. I don't think we should fear people competeing for our jobs, that is survival of the fittest, and the best man should win. But SOME of these immigrants are looking for handouts, and some politicians are looking to give out handouts to attract new voters.
And therein lies the problem. I can't say that I have a solution to that, except for a return to our core values, the ones enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, which give all men an equal footing to pursue thier own happiness. Under that system it truly would not matter where you came from, everyone would compete on merit.
But I do not understand the word entitlement, as apparently it refers to recieveing something you did not earn from other people who must provide it for you, which is the root of this whole mess and the source of everyone's concern. Entitlements will attract people that want stuff for free, and thus the stereotypes and fear.
Marco Rubio appears to understand this and he has taken a stab at fixing it. While his plan is not perfect it is a start and we might as well collect taxes from those who are here working hard and making money. And we should not fear the hard working largely moral folks in that group, who came here as any of us would to escape drug cartels and corruption. As for the ones who came here for a handout they are no worse than Americans with the same attitude.
I say we support tough immigration reform but the real challenge to to support entitlement reform.
No comments:
Post a Comment