As a person who despises both parties and most of what they stand for I was hoping Republicans would gain seats in the midterms. I may have even been swayed to vote for them. The reason being is that I believe a divided government is preferable. With Obama in the White House and reasonable expectation that he will be reelected, I would rather Republicans have more power in Congress. As a libertarian, I believe a Democratic President and Republican congress is the closest we get to ideal in who holds power and in what areas.
But Arizona makes giving Republican yahoos any more power scary. At the same time Democrats appear poised to take a stand almost as frightening.
Both sides are using legitimate concerns over immigration as a means to lead to a sinister end. The right uses it to press it's xenophobia/racism while the left uses it as means to centralize more power in the federal government. But there is more.
We don't need any of this shit. What we need is IMO two part.
1. Make it easier to be in compliance with immigration law. We need to relax the quotas on occupation, as well. If the immigrant is here and peaceable it should be fairly easy to extend his stay. But I would prefer the pressure them to gain citizenship and ease that process, as well.
Making it hard to comply with immigration laws only makes it more difficult to separate those who intend to subvert our laws and those who may have had trouble meeting the financial burdens that come with compliance.
2. Enforce the laws we have. This may require more money. I don't have a problem with greater border patrol, more money to go round up those with deportation orders, including the use of local police (properly trained), in those actions. But we need to separate the criminals and those that intentionally evade the law from the immigrant who wishes only to earn an honest wage and may have through honest error failed to comply with the law. Further criminalizing unlawful presence is counter productive.
The immigration issue is primarily a ruse for control of labor to the benefit of capital interests. If capital can move across borders but labor can not then capital has a distinct advantage. Labor is confined so that a cheap labor pool can be concentrated and exploited. Meanwhile, some labor is allowed to move in so long as the immigrant can be exploited as a second class citizen by domestic capital interests.
Immigration is the new slavery.
Workers of the world unite! But the funny thing is big labor, i.e., the unions support this exploitation of labor. Which is why the Democrats will be on board to restrict the rights of the individual. It does not benefit the union to have a highly mobile worker. The highly mobile worker has no need for a union. He just goes where he can get the best compensation.
As travel costs decline the threat to capital and their union symbiont has increased and their ability to exploit cheap labor has declined.
But Arizona makes giving Republican yahoos any more power scary. At the same time Democrats appear poised to take a stand almost as frightening.
Both sides are using legitimate concerns over immigration as a means to lead to a sinister end. The right uses it to press it's xenophobia/racism while the left uses it as means to centralize more power in the federal government. But there is more.
We don't need any of this shit. What we need is IMO two part.
1. Make it easier to be in compliance with immigration law. We need to relax the quotas on occupation, as well. If the immigrant is here and peaceable it should be fairly easy to extend his stay. But I would prefer the pressure them to gain citizenship and ease that process, as well.
Making it hard to comply with immigration laws only makes it more difficult to separate those who intend to subvert our laws and those who may have had trouble meeting the financial burdens that come with compliance.
2. Enforce the laws we have. This may require more money. I don't have a problem with greater border patrol, more money to go round up those with deportation orders, including the use of local police (properly trained), in those actions. But we need to separate the criminals and those that intentionally evade the law from the immigrant who wishes only to earn an honest wage and may have through honest error failed to comply with the law. Further criminalizing unlawful presence is counter productive.
The immigration issue is primarily a ruse for control of labor to the benefit of capital interests. If capital can move across borders but labor can not then capital has a distinct advantage. Labor is confined so that a cheap labor pool can be concentrated and exploited. Meanwhile, some labor is allowed to move in so long as the immigrant can be exploited as a second class citizen by domestic capital interests.
Immigration is the new slavery.
Workers of the world unite! But the funny thing is big labor, i.e., the unions support this exploitation of labor. Which is why the Democrats will be on board to restrict the rights of the individual. It does not benefit the union to have a highly mobile worker. The highly mobile worker has no need for a union. He just goes where he can get the best compensation.
As travel costs decline the threat to capital and their union symbiont has increased and their ability to exploit cheap labor has declined.
