Averting our gaze from illegals to power and money

A great number of people have recently become passionate about the long-existing problem of… A great number of people have recently become passionate about the long-existing problem of illegal immigration in the United States. I cannot say that I am surprised, especially considering that the public seems easily stirred by rhetoric that promotes a false sense of unity. Unqualified commentators have been cramming their opinions down the throats of otherwise indifferent Americans. In particular, CNN’s Lou Dobbs has been doing this night after night, making illegal immigration his favorite gripe.

The common view is this: Illegal immigrants are a scourge that gives nothing valuable to society and only siphons financial resources from “real” Americans. The suggestion is that illegal aliens, like outsourced laborers, are stealing American jobs. People that hold this opinion are misinformed products of a propaganda machine created by overzealous bigots.

It is not so much that the illegal residences are taking jobs. It is that American businesses are taking jobs from legal residents and giving them to more competitive workers.

The foundation of this country is low-wage workers. These are the people who do unfavorable tasks for relatively little monetary compensation. It is upon the backs of this scapegoat group that many small American businesses – a major component of our economy – thrive and flourish.

Those on my side of the argument will say that illegal immigrants do jobs that Americans do not want to do – e.g. fruit picking and construction jobs.

The opposition says that Americans will do any job for the right wage. They are right, but fail to consider the importance of a business’s bottom line. It is futile to put enough faith in business as to expect it to take the burden of economy. The burden lies on those at the bottom – including those who are illegal immigrants. Ultimately, business will find a way out of paying Americans the “right wage,” so long as they are not regulated to do so.

American citizens and legal aliens have the luxury of legal residence. Illegal aliens obviously do not; this weak point is the reason for their exploitation. Illegals that do not work under the table and/or below the minimum wage could risk deportation. The losses incurred by illegals working in this country have become a big bonus for businesses that require low-skill labor. This is a fact that such businesses hide but ultimately rely on for profit.

The irony of this situation is that although conservative thinking strongly vocally opposes illegal immigration, powerful business, closely related to conservatives, ultimately needs low-wage workers to keep up revenue.

The basic dividing characteristic among humans is not religion, race or nationality. The biggest divide is between those who have and those who do not. As long as this difference exists, there will always be a less fortunate individual with the drive to compete for a better way.

We are already witnessing this phenomenon with Asian labor. China is successfully taking American jobs without ever having its citizens jump U.S. borders. The situation with illegal immigration is similar. High demand in the global job market is cheapening the value of American jobs to American business owners.

This is the flattening of the world, so to speak. Economic resources that have long been stacked in the United States are slowly toppling over and being redistributed to other nations. There is nothing you or I can do to stop this trend; it was inevitable from the start.

Unless you are a lazy fool who feels entitled to your job because of your status as an American citizen or legal alien, there is no reason to despair.

Maintaining an American job will soon be done the way the rest of the world does it: through competition. Instead of whining about foreigners stealing their jobs – which accomplishes nothing – American citizens will have to learn to become competitors on a global level. Otherwise, anyone with lower demands can easily snatch a lazy American’s job in a free-market economy.

Once one overcomes the delusions of entitlement, it is plain to see that illegal immigrants are not taking American jobs because those jobs are not guaranteed to Americans to begin with! Directing energy and hate toward illegal immigrants is wasteful. As a group, illegals are actually the victims. They have no sizable impact in shaping the fate of the country. Power and money as business have this ability, and it is they that should be stopped.

Karim is annoyed by Lou Dobb’s too-frequent focus on illegal immigration. Share your aggravations at kab85@pitt.edu.