Would it work? My prior blog "A Modest Proposal" gave a suggestion for how to absolutely STOP illegal immigration into this country: CRIMINALIZE HIRING ILLEGALS
So, I wondered, what would be the result of such an endeavor?
One of the frequent excuses heard for hiring illegals is "Legals won't do the work. If we had to pay full wages and provide benefits, our prices would have to go up and no-one would buy our product and we would go out of business."
Really?
Think it through.
If employers had to pay better wages and offer benefits, and there were no illegals to take the jobs, persons on welfare or otherwise unemployed might well take those jobs. This reduces the Foodstamp roll, reduces the unemployment rolls, and with the new health care insurance, reduces the Medicare rolls.
If there are no illegal aliens here taking jobs for bad pay, it also reduces the number of children in public school receiving free breakfast and lunch, it reduces the strain on the emergency rooms of persons without insurance, and reduces the population of some inner-city and slum areas.
In fact, as I see it, if there were NO illegal aliens here, more Americans could and would find work, putting more money into OUR economy, and leading to sufficient revenues THAT THERE COULD BE LEGITIMATE TAX CUTS BECAUSE MONIES WOULD NO LONGER BE SPENT SUPPORTING ILLEGALS!!
Something to think about.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A Perfect Day
How do you describe a perfect day?
It varies with age, with circumstance, with everything in life that occurrs.
Yesterday, I had a perfect day.
My husband and I picked up a friend and went out to breakfast. Good coffee, good friends and LOTS of good food. I stopped eating before I exploded, but although I do not usually enjoy pre-fetal chickens, my breakfast was excellent.
Then we went to play golf. Cochoti golf course is on the Santa Domingo pueblo. They do not have a casino, the course is about 25 miles off of the interstate, and is almost lost in the hills and canyons.
Yes, it was a very hot day. Yes, I played as poorly as always (2 bogies - we WON'T talk about the rest)
But the course is beautiful. The setting is beautiful, and we had a WONDERFUL time.
Afterwards, coming home, we stopped in Albuquerque for dinner. The resturant we choose happens to have a jazz band that plays on Tuesday nights. GREAT food, good music, good friends.
It was a perfect day.
How to define a perfect day at this age?
A perfect day is when you drop your friend off and DON'T heave a sigh of relief. Instead, you say:
What a Perfect Day!
It varies with age, with circumstance, with everything in life that occurrs.
Yesterday, I had a perfect day.
My husband and I picked up a friend and went out to breakfast. Good coffee, good friends and LOTS of good food. I stopped eating before I exploded, but although I do not usually enjoy pre-fetal chickens, my breakfast was excellent.
Then we went to play golf. Cochoti golf course is on the Santa Domingo pueblo. They do not have a casino, the course is about 25 miles off of the interstate, and is almost lost in the hills and canyons.
Yes, it was a very hot day. Yes, I played as poorly as always (2 bogies - we WON'T talk about the rest)
But the course is beautiful. The setting is beautiful, and we had a WONDERFUL time.
Afterwards, coming home, we stopped in Albuquerque for dinner. The resturant we choose happens to have a jazz band that plays on Tuesday nights. GREAT food, good music, good friends.
It was a perfect day.
How to define a perfect day at this age?
A perfect day is when you drop your friend off and DON'T heave a sigh of relief. Instead, you say:
What a Perfect Day!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Petty people get their kicks from making others cry
Two things have crossed my radar recently.
The first was an on-line article (msn.com? I really don't recall) about fear in the workplace. There was a description of a fear-dominated workplace, where people are afraid to express their hones opinions, afraid to offer suggetions, even afraid to speak with any openess to their co-workers for fear that their good ideas would be stolen and their gripes would be reported to the higher-ups. One of the points I totally focused on was about how information is diseminated in a fear-oriented workplace. It re-inforced a point I realized in my career: knowledge is power. Some managers believe that knowledge shared is power diminished, others believe that knowledge shared is knowledge enhanced via feed-back. I worked under managers in both camps. I have to admit, I prefered the knowledge-shared, fear-diminished workplace.
The second was a booklet about trust and communication in the workplace. It made a LOT of points that I wish I had been aware of when I was working. A HUGE facet of trust IS communication. They gave examples of meetings where everyone walked out feeling (very justifiably) that they understood their role in the situation when NONE of them knew what they were expected to do. For example-- your boss walks by your office and says; "We're having a problem with X" Does that mean that YOU are expected to resolve the problem? Does that mean that you will not receive what you need from X when you need it and need to go with an alternative plan? Is X about to be replaced by Y? Clearly, a huge part of trust IS communication.
I wish I had read these two items 25 years ago, when I encountered my first truely bad manager.
Now, I can look back and say: I wish I had spoken up in an appropriate manner. I didn't speak up. I thought that if I spoke up, things would become even worse. Maybe they would have. However, if I had know HOW to make my points, maybe some managers might have realized what they were doing was not right.
Oh, yes, my title of this post? Petty people do not just exist in the workplace. They exist in social situations as well. People who have NEVER been important take joy (or at least satisfaction) in tormenting people in social situations as well.
The first was an on-line article (msn.com? I really don't recall) about fear in the workplace. There was a description of a fear-dominated workplace, where people are afraid to express their hones opinions, afraid to offer suggetions, even afraid to speak with any openess to their co-workers for fear that their good ideas would be stolen and their gripes would be reported to the higher-ups. One of the points I totally focused on was about how information is diseminated in a fear-oriented workplace. It re-inforced a point I realized in my career: knowledge is power. Some managers believe that knowledge shared is power diminished, others believe that knowledge shared is knowledge enhanced via feed-back. I worked under managers in both camps. I have to admit, I prefered the knowledge-shared, fear-diminished workplace.
The second was a booklet about trust and communication in the workplace. It made a LOT of points that I wish I had been aware of when I was working. A HUGE facet of trust IS communication. They gave examples of meetings where everyone walked out feeling (very justifiably) that they understood their role in the situation when NONE of them knew what they were expected to do. For example-- your boss walks by your office and says; "We're having a problem with X" Does that mean that YOU are expected to resolve the problem? Does that mean that you will not receive what you need from X when you need it and need to go with an alternative plan? Is X about to be replaced by Y? Clearly, a huge part of trust IS communication.
I wish I had read these two items 25 years ago, when I encountered my first truely bad manager.
Now, I can look back and say: I wish I had spoken up in an appropriate manner. I didn't speak up. I thought that if I spoke up, things would become even worse. Maybe they would have. However, if I had know HOW to make my points, maybe some managers might have realized what they were doing was not right.
Oh, yes, my title of this post? Petty people do not just exist in the workplace. They exist in social situations as well. People who have NEVER been important take joy (or at least satisfaction) in tormenting people in social situations as well.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Gun Control
"Gun control means being able to hit your target."
This evening, we received a telephone call from the NRA. I doubt the young lady on the line ordinarily expects to hear her affiliation met with racous laughter. However, that's what she got.
Then I explained to her my theory on gun control.
My grandfather was a hunter. He always had rifles and shotguns. Guns were used to hunt for food for the family table. If you shot it, you cleaned it and you ate it.
Grandfather did not have any handguns. He did not like pistols. He said, "A pistol is only good for shooting a person."
And that's my feeling on gun control. Use guns to hunt for food.
One of the problems with this society is that we frown more on eating a dead person than on shooting him in the first place.
'
This evening, we received a telephone call from the NRA. I doubt the young lady on the line ordinarily expects to hear her affiliation met with racous laughter. However, that's what she got.
Then I explained to her my theory on gun control.
My grandfather was a hunter. He always had rifles and shotguns. Guns were used to hunt for food for the family table. If you shot it, you cleaned it and you ate it.
Grandfather did not have any handguns. He did not like pistols. He said, "A pistol is only good for shooting a person."
And that's my feeling on gun control. Use guns to hunt for food.
One of the problems with this society is that we frown more on eating a dead person than on shooting him in the first place.
'
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Nostalgia
I got another one of those e-mails today. You know, the ones that talk about watching Howdey-Doodey and Green stamps, etc, etc, and how wonderful the world was when we were growing up and didn't have viedogames or seat belts.
Remember?
Remember laughing and making fun of the kids who had polio and had to wear heavy braces and akward crutches? We had to put up with them in class because there was nothing wrong with their minds, just their bodies, but face it, most people with disabilities were kept "out of sight"
Remember no seat belts? I remember a girl I had been friends with since first grade, she was a homecoming princess our senior year. Then on Mother's day, the car she was riding in hit an oily patch and spun out. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She was still in rehab and didn't get to graduation. She did make it to college. And by then, people in wheelchairs weren't as unusual as when we were in grade school.
Remember getting your tetnus shot on a regular basis? When was the last time any of us did THAT?
Remember the days when (because of illegal red-lining) there were NO minorities of any color in your neighborhood? In California, in the mid-60's four of the largest real estate firms in my area were charged with discrimination. Certain areas were understoon to be "off limits" to minorities. Even if they had cash to pay for the home.
Nostalgia may be a longing for "the way things used to be" Take a hint: They never really were that way.
Remember?
Remember laughing and making fun of the kids who had polio and had to wear heavy braces and akward crutches? We had to put up with them in class because there was nothing wrong with their minds, just their bodies, but face it, most people with disabilities were kept "out of sight"
Remember no seat belts? I remember a girl I had been friends with since first grade, she was a homecoming princess our senior year. Then on Mother's day, the car she was riding in hit an oily patch and spun out. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She was still in rehab and didn't get to graduation. She did make it to college. And by then, people in wheelchairs weren't as unusual as when we were in grade school.
Remember getting your tetnus shot on a regular basis? When was the last time any of us did THAT?
Remember the days when (because of illegal red-lining) there were NO minorities of any color in your neighborhood? In California, in the mid-60's four of the largest real estate firms in my area were charged with discrimination. Certain areas were understoon to be "off limits" to minorities. Even if they had cash to pay for the home.
Nostalgia may be a longing for "the way things used to be" Take a hint: They never really were that way.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Immigration: A Modest Proposal
No, no, I'm NOT doing a re-write of Swift for this (although I once posited that if you could re-write his essay, substituting 'welfare' for Irish, a large number of newspaper readers would not recognize it). And yes, I have said that if the stands in Nevada and Arizona that sell "Alien Jerkey" were to re-image their little, green icons, it might make some illegal immigrants think twice; but no, I'm not proposing cannabilism.
Why do immigrants come to this country?
Because it is better here than where they are coming from. Why is it better here? Because here, they can find work that pays enough that they can live and in many instances, send money home to their families.
Why can they find work in this country?
They take jobs many people in this country are not willing to do.
Why are people here unwilling to do these jobs? In many cases it is because there are no benefits, unsafe or unplesant working conditions, no overtime pay, no sick leave, and similar matters. Why? Because the employers have found that illegals are willing to work under these conditions, will not report the employer to the Labor, Health, of Safety departments that would monitor these conditions, and because of their illgal status, will not protest unfair, or unsafe working conditions.
By using illgal workers, the employer can under-bid other employers who provide safe working conditions and pay full wages.
My point? There is a huge incentive for large employers to continue the current situation. The problem is not the "day-labor" pick-ups at the corner. The problem is not the woman who cleans houses. The problem is large employers.
Check construction sites for large developments (I know, I know, there aren't a whole lot of those right now) Look at the after-hours cleaning crews for major retailors. And yes, look at the traditional occupations of 'stoop labor': the agribusinesses who grow the food we put on our tables.
The simplest way to eliminate the "problem" of illegal immigrants is to eliminate the jobs that they perform. How can that be done?
CRIMINALIZE HIRING ILLEGALS
WHAT??? You say. Why should hiring people be against the law? If you believe that by being in this country a person is commiting an illegal act, then are you not also committing an illegal act (aiding and abbeting) when you hire them? IF crossing into this country without proper papers, or staying here after the proper papers have expired is illegal, why is not all interaction that allows these people to stay here also a crime?
1. ANY employer found to have either knowingly hired illegal immigrants or to have been less than careful in requiring hires to prove their status is fined $5,000 PER ILLEGAL EMPLOYEE for a first offense.
2. On a second offense within five years, the employer head - Company President, CEO, Chairman of the Board of directors (YES, ALL of them) spends 30 days in jail for each illegal employee.
3. Third offense? DEATH PENALTY. The corporation is dissolved! The business is out-of-business. In addition, the culpable parties (the ones listed in item 2 PLUS all of the paerons who hired illegals onto the jobs) spend ONE YEAR in jail for EVERY illegal they hired.
Now, if those were the penalties, how many large employers would hire ANYONE who could not prove legal status?
Now - just to keep things 'fair', if retailer X uses sub-contractor C to do ALL of the janitorial chores in State Q, RETAILER X IS ALSO ON THE LINE IF C HIRES ILLEGALS!! In other words, if a company does not hire illegals itself, but contracts work to companies that do, the top-level company is charged with complicity in the hiring.
That's my 'modest proposal' It will never fly.
Why not?
There are two reasons:
1. As the above situation shows, major corporations have a very big interest in hiring illegals, either directly or indirectly by sub-contracting with companies that do.
2. Ever since the expiration of the 'bracero' program (late '60's) Mexico has used illegal immigration to the United States to export their most ambitious members of the underclasses. If even half of the people who have come into this country illegally from Mexico had stayed at home, they very likely would have formented a revolt against an enourmously corrupt ruling class.
Quite honestly, I believe that Mexico uses this as a threat: if the U.S. actually cracks down on illegal immigration, Mexico would face serious upheaval. This threat serves to prevent true, serious immigration reform in this country. Face it, it is not in the interests of the U.S. to have Mexico in the throes of a revolution.
Of course, there is a simple, knee-jerk response to this: annex Mexico.
We had that opportunity in 1848. We didn't take it. Why not? There were three primary reasons:
1. The people of Mexico did not speak English.
2. The people of Mexico had brown skins.
3. The people of Mexico were primarily Catholic.
Which of those reasons still holds true today?
Why do immigrants come to this country?
Because it is better here than where they are coming from. Why is it better here? Because here, they can find work that pays enough that they can live and in many instances, send money home to their families.
Why can they find work in this country?
They take jobs many people in this country are not willing to do.
Why are people here unwilling to do these jobs? In many cases it is because there are no benefits, unsafe or unplesant working conditions, no overtime pay, no sick leave, and similar matters. Why? Because the employers have found that illegals are willing to work under these conditions, will not report the employer to the Labor, Health, of Safety departments that would monitor these conditions, and because of their illgal status, will not protest unfair, or unsafe working conditions.
By using illgal workers, the employer can under-bid other employers who provide safe working conditions and pay full wages.
My point? There is a huge incentive for large employers to continue the current situation. The problem is not the "day-labor" pick-ups at the corner. The problem is not the woman who cleans houses. The problem is large employers.
Check construction sites for large developments (I know, I know, there aren't a whole lot of those right now) Look at the after-hours cleaning crews for major retailors. And yes, look at the traditional occupations of 'stoop labor': the agribusinesses who grow the food we put on our tables.
The simplest way to eliminate the "problem" of illegal immigrants is to eliminate the jobs that they perform. How can that be done?
CRIMINALIZE HIRING ILLEGALS
WHAT??? You say. Why should hiring people be against the law? If you believe that by being in this country a person is commiting an illegal act, then are you not also committing an illegal act (aiding and abbeting) when you hire them? IF crossing into this country without proper papers, or staying here after the proper papers have expired is illegal, why is not all interaction that allows these people to stay here also a crime?
1. ANY employer found to have either knowingly hired illegal immigrants or to have been less than careful in requiring hires to prove their status is fined $5,000 PER ILLEGAL EMPLOYEE for a first offense.
2. On a second offense within five years, the employer head - Company President, CEO, Chairman of the Board of directors (YES, ALL of them) spends 30 days in jail for each illegal employee.
3. Third offense? DEATH PENALTY. The corporation is dissolved! The business is out-of-business. In addition, the culpable parties (the ones listed in item 2 PLUS all of the paerons who hired illegals onto the jobs) spend ONE YEAR in jail for EVERY illegal they hired.
Now, if those were the penalties, how many large employers would hire ANYONE who could not prove legal status?
Now - just to keep things 'fair', if retailer X uses sub-contractor C to do ALL of the janitorial chores in State Q, RETAILER X IS ALSO ON THE LINE IF C HIRES ILLEGALS!! In other words, if a company does not hire illegals itself, but contracts work to companies that do, the top-level company is charged with complicity in the hiring.
That's my 'modest proposal' It will never fly.
Why not?
There are two reasons:
1. As the above situation shows, major corporations have a very big interest in hiring illegals, either directly or indirectly by sub-contracting with companies that do.
2. Ever since the expiration of the 'bracero' program (late '60's) Mexico has used illegal immigration to the United States to export their most ambitious members of the underclasses. If even half of the people who have come into this country illegally from Mexico had stayed at home, they very likely would have formented a revolt against an enourmously corrupt ruling class.
Quite honestly, I believe that Mexico uses this as a threat: if the U.S. actually cracks down on illegal immigration, Mexico would face serious upheaval. This threat serves to prevent true, serious immigration reform in this country. Face it, it is not in the interests of the U.S. to have Mexico in the throes of a revolution.
Of course, there is a simple, knee-jerk response to this: annex Mexico.
We had that opportunity in 1848. We didn't take it. Why not? There were three primary reasons:
1. The people of Mexico did not speak English.
2. The people of Mexico had brown skins.
3. The people of Mexico were primarily Catholic.
Which of those reasons still holds true today?
Friday, May 21, 2010
Uneccessary things that Haven't been invented yet
Just the title makes me smile. Think of thigs that DON'T (we hope) currently exist, that are possibly feasible to create.
I. The cell phone vibrator:
It's ALWAYS set on vibrate!
Gives a whole new meaning to "phone sex"
II. The automatic toilet paper:
It's positioned somehow under the seat, and does it's duty after you've done
yours
"Look Ma! No hands!!"
III.
Come, my friends, let's create an entire catalogue. Clearly, there is a need for the uneccessary!!
I. The cell phone vibrator:
It's ALWAYS set on vibrate!
Gives a whole new meaning to "phone sex"
II. The automatic toilet paper:
It's positioned somehow under the seat, and does it's duty after you've done
yours
"Look Ma! No hands!!"
III.
Come, my friends, let's create an entire catalogue. Clearly, there is a need for the uneccessary!!
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