Side effects of illegal immigration
Boulder Weekly: I love your work but I have always disagreed with what I see as a take on illegal immigration that ignores the fiscal reality of this mess, decades old. The latest round of violence is another symptom of this problem and yet, the issue continues to be led by the left and right extremists with no resolution in sight. Here’s my view, one from an independent, middle-class American.
There are many Americans like myself that are sick of the give-away and disregard of our immigration laws. Liberals that openly disregard our immigration laws are to blame as much as white nationalists for this mess. I am a U.S. citizen of Hispanic descent and have no ill will for these poor folks, whose countries have disavowed, but there is a fiscal reality that has been ignored for decades and continues to be ignored by every single Dem candidate.
Here’s my singular beef… Our public schools are taking the beating of this fiscal drain and yet, we have DeVos that is trying to siphon public funds to charter schools. How many illegals are charter schools taking in? In my opinion, ignoring our immigration laws is exactly like ignoring the enforcement of red flag laws. Both are illegal and if you can’t do the job, get the hell out.
Michael Ortiz/Lafayette
The American worker
A current TV ad has people dancing and jumping for joy at having home furnishings delivered to their doors. This is precisely the Milton Friedman/Ronald Reagan supply-side (trickle down) economic theory: If people are able to buy the things they want (prompted by incessant commercial advertising), all is well in the economy. This is also the driver of global trade and the utilization of less expensive labor in developing (poorer) nations to manufacture affordable (and more profitable) goods. These were corporate decisions. The downside of shifting manufacturing overseas is that the resulting service economy here creates repetitive and less personally satisfying tasks that require few skills and are thus open to further cost cutting measures (lower wages and automation). There is merit in trying to restore the dignity of the American worker, but few are born with the funding to compete nor can all be innovators and entrepreneurs, and here the profit motive and arc of modern corporate capitalism are powerful forces standing in opposition to any future rising dignity for the average American.
Donald Trump rode into the presidency on the economic and racial anxieties of white America, promising to address their concerns. The great irony of this is that every fiber of his being — his ego, ambition and wealth — rests on his determination to be among the landed elite of the world, a drive coming it would seem from his own deep insecurity. His golf courses, resorts and hotels are built to cater to wealth. Nothing he has done in his personal life has ever been directed to benefit the average American, particularly those whose skin is not white. That so many nonetheless stand solidly behind him indicates he has become the avatar not only of white identity but of the broad concept of America’s Manifest Destiny, including all its warts.
Robert Porath/Boulder
