The Global War on Terror, no matter how much we wish to ignore, remains the top issue for the day and, very likely, for the next decade. We are in a generation-long war with Islamic extremism, with people who demand unconditional surrender to their ideology, and have no qualms about using the most barbaric acts imaginable to undo our very culture. The financial resources of the Middle East make them incredibly dangerous and we have to deal with them effectively. A detail discussion of how we do that will require multiple postings; to recognize the this as the first issue is enough for here.
The second most critical issue for the near future, one is the unlikely to be addressed until it is critical, in the Social Security financial crisis. Unless we buck up and elect straight talking politicians (Fred Thompson comes to mind) to lead the charge now, there will not be the political will to address this issue before the politicians can no longer juggle the books enough to keep the checks going out. I fully expect that- at that time- the system will be forced to a needs-based system (actually increasing progressive taxes on the recipients until they tax it back) and the government will begin to print money to inflate us out of the situation they have known was coming for 40 years and have been too cowardly to fix. I pray our children and great-grandchildren rebel at the voting booths and leave us Baby Boomers- who have spent like drunken sailors- in the lurch by refusing to carry our load on their backs. We’ll be lucky if they don’t hunt us down in the street and drag us off to euthanasia sites. We pretty much deserve it. We may all end up in dormitory style living and minimal HMO style medical care and should be thankful if we get that. Odds are a LOT of us will end up migrating to much cheaper countries just to live at basic levels. Me, I’ve got my spot picked out in Uganda. Cheap living in an English-speaking country, if you don’t mind dealing with malaria and the like. Maybe I’ll open up a retirement community there.
The third issue is illegal immigration/border security. The real issue is not that; it is illegal employment. There has always been a certain amount of this, but the nation has gotten addicted to the benefits of a cheap, illegal pool of hard-working labor. And people who have suddenly decide they don’t like the fact the country has reached a saturation point where the new arrivals feel no need to assimilate our culture and our language. We shouldn’t be startled when we walk up to a fast food counter and find only one person in the place speaks any English and they do it poorly; it’s been building up for quite awhile.
Most of this country wants that to change but are we willing to pay the price. The normal illegal immigrant is a very hard-working sod that gets paid way too little. Are we willing to go back and insisting that the typical high schooler hold down a part-time and/or summer jobs? That they work hard at it for low pay? That that Number 3 Combo at the fast food joint will jump in price from $6.00 to $8.50 to pay the cost of legal labor?That fruits and vegetables jump an average of 60%, the cost of that new house goes up 30%? Cutting and trimming your yard will cost up to double, along with all other landscape services. Believe me, if forced to pay for Americans to do the work, those are pretty low estimates. I, for one think it would be worth the cost, a cost that would be reduced some but not even half, by savings in public services and law enforcement that now go to illegal workers and their families..
So, if we’re willing to pay those continual costs, what would it take to reduce illegal immigrant populations by 99%? Getting to that percentage would require massive losses in civil liberties; everyone carries a national ID at all times and all enforcement agencies would have the right to round up anyone who doesn’t have theirs, no matter what language was spoken. Schools would check IDs of the kids regularly, medical care denied if you didn’t have it, except for emergency basis and after the police were brought in. Store’s would seel to you without the ID. Every small business would have it’s workers checked regularly. Believe me, the government would know a lot more about individual actions, if we want to scrub the population clean of illegal residents.Massive new government expenditures on a full wall, an order of magnitude or more of enforcement officers and a couple orders of magnitude in fast track courts, detention centers, and transport services. Figure $200 Billion to start. I’m not sure many Ron Paul supporters would buy into all of that.
A more realistic goal is somewhere in the 80-90% range, tending toward the lower end (and remember the costs listed above) that should be enough to encourage assimilation of the remainder into American culture and English language. Of course, America would continue to assimilate some Hispanic culture and language, as we’ve done with every other culture that did not inundate us.
How do we get there? First, realization that there is only one place to start to attact this; the workplace, as Arizona has just started to do. First is an ironclad, beefed-up national ID, beyond what Social Security is now: Libertarians, quit screaming long enough to pay attention; the only way that this can work is if identification of any issue is solid. There is vastly more chance of civil liberties lost by mis-identification. The ID number would be more passport-like; renewed photos, biometrics, multitudes of anti-counterfeit components. Indeed, I would advocate expansion of passport services to be a workplace requirement. Birth certificates would definitely need better identification as well; technology is getting to a point that improvements here are doable and necessary.
The better ID will be necessary so as to make all employers of any size responsible for the legal status of every worker on their properties. No more businesses skirting the laws with sub-contract and day labor. Workplace checks would then be massively increased, with major fines for every worker on site without a legal status on file at the site. And, if the violations are repetitive and pervasive enough, the government would undertake RICO actions to confiscate the business as an illegal enterprise.
Put those laws on the books and self-deportation will begin as jobs dry up. Watch the current homebuilders suddenly asking 30-40% more for a house and go into a training and hiring frenzy. Legal bricklayers, roofers and drywallers would suddenly make a much better living. The laws of supply and demand would take over, unpolluted by illegal labor. Things would be rough for awhile and we’d end up with more government for awhile during the initial enforcement phase, but that could be covered by the fines and the 80% reduction of illegal public services required. With the border properly fenced and walled to go along with it, this would achieve as much result as possible with the lowest amount of lost civil liberties.
But the question remains; are the people in this country really ready to pay the high cost to drastically retard illegal employment and substantially reverse the volume of illegal immigration? I am, but I frankly doubt the majority of Americans really are. They want the result without the cost; that’s not how the world works outside their revered TV sets.
Of the other candidates (not including Ron Paul, who hasn’t thought out the costs), I think Fred Thompson probably understands more of this than the others. And he’s the only hope of someone talking plainly enough to even take the first steps down this road. It’s one reason I back him.
So kick around your own thoughts about these and see what you come up with.
Filed under: Philosophy, Politics, Ron Paul
[...] posted just now on Immigration (linked to Ron Paul, which should draw some fun), with other postings on the possibility of a [...]
I cannot stomach the thought of a national ID card, nor can I stand the thought of increasing the size government, ever so ‘briefly,’ to deal with the issue. Here’s an alternative solution:
Start enforcing laws. Deport those that are here illegally when we find them. Don’t offer them scholarships and healthcare. Don’t consider it a ‘punishment’ [as Romney said, 'punishing the children for the sins of the father]. It’s not ‘punishing’ someone to not give them free stuff.
Secondly: repeal minimum wage laws. All of them. If someone’s willing to work for $1/hour, let me hire them. Then your costs of services don’t rocket up in the nation: you just enable a bunch of young kids to spread their entrepreneurial wings. I was working plenty when I was fifteen. I think every fifteen year old would be better off if they’d do the same. Abso*lutely* I want them working at McDonald’s.
If we’re not going to enforce illegal immigration laws, though, we should simply repeal them. Selective enforcement of the laws gives the government a big stick to hold power over people after they let them break the law for a long time.
If a national ID card is implemented, I’ll likely leave the US. I’ll definitely enter the underground at the very least, and join / form the resistance.
I don’t see much difference in a job going to an illegal alien versus a job going overseas aside from one point. My tax money (to a large degree) is not subsidizing the job overseas. This is what most people are upset about in regards to illegal immigration. Their tax money is supporting non-citizens who don’t pay taxes at all.
Solution, institute the Fair Tax. Everyone pays taxes, and illegal aliens don’t get the monthly prebate that U.S. citizens do. That in itself should make the resentment towards illegal immigrants much less and might send some of them home on their own.
Unfortunately, a lot of resentment is based on the failure of the ilegal immigrants to assimilate and their numbers are making English the second language in several businesses. It’s when one has trouble ordering food at a fast food joint because no one speaks adequate English, resent is- unfortunately- a natural reaction of many.
And then there’s another minor issue; it’s called respect for the law. My wife went through 5 years of hoops and was a top-line graduate in a field that was in short supply in this country. She is now a U.S. citizen and, while she still enjoys her Chinese culture and speaking Chinese with her friends, her English comprehension and usage has always been expected. She doesn’t ask for a ballot in Chinese, nor government documentation in her native language. She realizes this is America and she has readily adapted to it. She played by the rules and obeys the laws; I expect no less from any other immigrant.