Immigration

I am angry that this immigration debate has not been resolved.

The reason it has not been finalized is that this country needs illegal immigrants to work here. If there were no illegal workers (Mexicans in particular) this economy would fall flat on its face.

I used to be upset about these particular immigrants (remember there are more than just Mexicans coming over here illegally) coming to the U.S. supposedly taking jobs away from U.S. workers. I now understand that U.S. workers have opened up these opportunities for foreign workers. They have done this by demanding too high wages. They have done this by not wanting to do certain jobs. They have done this by placing themselves in the ‘Prima-Donna’ position of thinking they are too good to do these everyday low-level jobs that need to be done.

Think about this. If these immigrants were not here, who would do the jobs they do? It would not be Americans, for the reasons I just gave. Still don’t believe me? Think about this, if Americans would do these jobs in the first place at a reasonable pay rate then why were immigrants hired to do them? Why did the employer who hired immigrants look outside the American workforce? Americans were already here. Americans said they weren’t going to do it.

We all benefit by having the immigrants here in this country cleaning our homes and offices, mowing our lawns and putting food on our tables. We all benefit by having immigrants here working in construction jobs. You think prices are high now? Think about how high they would get if we had to pay an American workforce to do these same jobs.

Now the part that really ticks me off about this issue, is that while American politicians refuse to find an agreeable solution to this problem (I think the reason is that politicians benefit from having them remain illegal), the Mexicans are taking their hard earned American dollars and sending it all to Mexico. Don’t you think the money they earn here should be spent here?

Give them legal status, it won’t be long before they become Americanized and we will have to find some other illegal immigrants to come in and do our ‘dirty work’.

Switching gears a bit, I want to touch on the ‘endangered educated American’, which is another side of why we are in this mess.

A recent article in Industry Week entitled ‘American’s workforce talents fall short of industry needs” states:
"Manufacturers across the country are facing labor shortages despite the availability of good, high-paying manufacturing jobs". "These jobs are going unfilled due to a lack of employees with the qualifications needed in modern manufacturing. If the U.S. wants to continue being a leader in manufacturing -- and we do -- then we must ensure that every student has the knowledge and skills necessary for a high tech workforce."

I am pretty sure I have been hearing this said for the last 30 years. Why am I still hearing it? Because our education system sucks. It isn’t just the fault of the educators. There are some fine teachers out there. It isn’t just the fault of the students, there are some who really want to learn. The problem is, there isn’t enough of either group to improve our situation.

In another report, this by the National Advisory Council on Continuing education, only thirteen percent of all adults participate in continuing education. That number is really quite sad and depressing.

CEO’s have been saying for several years that our American workforce is falling behind the rest of the world. The number of American math and science graduates is dwindling. The number of foreign students being attracted to American universities is increasing. These foreign students are reluctant to stay in America so they are taking their skills to their homelands. India and China are increasing their number of engineers and will soon take over America’s role as the technological leader.

I have said it before and it bears repeating, if we don’t get our educational level up to world standards then we deserve the fall that is surely coming. We are losing our status as world leader in just about every category and industry.

The fact that there aren’t enough skilled American workers and very few who want to improve themselves coupled with the fact that American workers don’t want to do menial jobs means that America is headed toward a gloomy future. It just further illustrates what I have been saying, that American workers have become Prima Donnas. They think they should have it all just given to them. One cause of this starts right in the home. Parents, you better start teaching your kids some responsibility and stop giving them every thing they want. Make them work for it. We all want the future to be brighter for our children than it was for us, but not teaching them responsibility is not the way to make that rosy scenario come about.

Our jobs are being given to foreign countries, everyone knows someone who has lost their job due to their company moving overseas. We are left with only low-paying service jobs. One day we will be the illegal immigrants in a foreign country trying to earn more money than we can here at home.

What each of us does individually and locally does affect each of us collectively and globally. The entire global economy depends on our actions as a nation. We are loosing our grip on world power.

George W Bush has placed all of his bets on military power and that is a fatalistic move. He will only help his good friends and he is running out of those. The rest of us better stop fighting illegal immigration and start helping our neighbors improve themselves. Embrace the fact that we are no different than they are because one day, my friends, we will be in their position.