Reply #97: Reality Based Solutions

[ellisonz]

Dear Poster,

This issue is of course much more complex than you or I percieve it as being (immigration), your heart is in the right place, but your brain isn't translating that very well. Suffice to say, the answer is not simply to "ENFORCE STRICT, COSTLY SANCTIONS AGAINST EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS," and I assure that no problem ever solves itself. Nothing in this life is free, we've got to work hard on everything, otherwise we will go back to nothing. The trick is to look at both sides of the equation in looking for an applicable solution.

Three significant factors of the percieved problem:
(1) Human trafficking - this provides the means and the motivation for the illicit smuggling that occurs across our southern border. Want to hurt the drug cartels, put a real dent in the human trafficking web. This means going to the source: the individual human motivations for actions. The smugglers are easy, greed, the workers are not so easily assigned negative motivation, most simply want to create a better future for themselves and their families. We can increase border security by creating a fair guest worker program for the NAFTA and CAFTA states. If this happened, the smugglers would be left with drugs as the primary source of income, and I assure you it will be much easier to target drug smuggling once the human trafficking element has been removed.
(2) Multinationalist corporations - the "ist" is the key part. Globalization has made these types of corporations much more predominant in the marketplace. Globalization isn't going anywhere, rather we've got to make globalization work for everyone. We need to limit outsourcing - some isn't harmful, and in fact it's probably beneficial to grow foreign markets intelligently - but we need to stop the wholesale movement of industries overseas. Moderation is the key in this regard, too much and you'll send the global economy into a dive, to little and nothing will change.
(3) Real overseas development - why do people want to come here? There's more opportunity in America than anywhere else, so the way to alleviate drastic labor imbalances is through sustainable development. It would seem to me that NGO's are much more effective at this than national governments, so although the G8 must provide much of the bankroll, it would be better off working through existing programs that demonstrate success (microloans, direct aid, subsidization). We also need to create the types of international and national organizations that can perform the neccessary oversight, it benefits no one to have poorly paid workers that are inefficient and die young. Quite simply put: we need to create more equality of opportunity around the globe so productivity doesn't become so stilted in favor of foreign markets.

It is high time for America to assume a leadership role in the world, nothing will happen unless the Americans are on board, and to get on board we need to elect new leadership. W and his friends are no solution at all, and I wouldn't trust a single word that comes out of their mouths, they aren't interested in real solutions for real people, they're interested in self-advancement. W isn't about an "us" and a "them," he's about "me, me, me." We at DU shouldn't be joining him in creating that convenient misperception. We are all in this together.