One Man's Thoughts
Yesterday I went into a local Ritz (or Kitz) Camera to exchange a camera bag that was falling apart prematurely. After talking with the agents of customer service for a bit, they offered to give me a credit toward a new bag.
While I was looking for another bag, I began having a conversation with one of the employees at the camera store, mentioning that I wanted a sturdy bag for when I go taking pictures out and about. I also mentioned that I went to the rally and took pictures (the rally on May 1st). I will have a picture-post of those later in the next few days.
He then asked me what I thought of the rally, and I gave my opinion, which basically was that it's a fairly broken system and unfair to all involved.
His opinion was that "we should kick them all out". His reasoning was because years ago he had to stand in line for hours, pay the fee, learn the language and know the Pledge of Allegiance.
I have noticed that many people who are against illegal immigration and favor "kicking them out" have been called racist or unfair. But this man brings up a very good point, and a point that I have a feeling most anti-illegal immigrants share: it is simply unfair to all those who followed the rules to get into the country. To them it is insultive and as unfair as illegal immigrants say treatment toward them has been. And it's not hard to understand why. If I worked hard, paid money and sacrified to get in legally then I too would be insulted, and feel quite stupid, that I could have just ran across a border and demanded my right to stay.
I'm not saying I agree with the man completely. Because I don't completely agree with him. It's a tricky situation to say the least. And there are nuances to both sides that can't simply be ignored. Laws are great, laws keep order. But the best laws are not static but rather quite flexible. I remember hearing that in an episode of Star Trek once (and for the record, I have a good memory, I don't watch Star Trek episodes over and over again). The comment was simply that, for laws to be successful, and for society to evolve, the law has to be flexible. And it's true. What worked one hundred years ago... or two hundred years ago... may not quite work the same way as now.
Whether we like it or not, the country's economy does run on illegal immigrant workers. If we want to cut back on the influx of illegal immigration, we need to start attacking the roots of the problem. There are many people who probably would do those jobs, but at a fair price. If we want to curtail illegal immigration, one idea might be to force workers to pay their employees a fair price. But since I'm no economist, I don't know if that's even a feasible idea.
Still, intelligent debate and dialogue would be a better alternative than simple band-aid style solutions and suggestions.
While I was looking for another bag, I began having a conversation with one of the employees at the camera store, mentioning that I wanted a sturdy bag for when I go taking pictures out and about. I also mentioned that I went to the rally and took pictures (the rally on May 1st). I will have a picture-post of those later in the next few days.
He then asked me what I thought of the rally, and I gave my opinion, which basically was that it's a fairly broken system and unfair to all involved.
His opinion was that "we should kick them all out". His reasoning was because years ago he had to stand in line for hours, pay the fee, learn the language and know the Pledge of Allegiance.
I have noticed that many people who are against illegal immigration and favor "kicking them out" have been called racist or unfair. But this man brings up a very good point, and a point that I have a feeling most anti-illegal immigrants share: it is simply unfair to all those who followed the rules to get into the country. To them it is insultive and as unfair as illegal immigrants say treatment toward them has been. And it's not hard to understand why. If I worked hard, paid money and sacrified to get in legally then I too would be insulted, and feel quite stupid, that I could have just ran across a border and demanded my right to stay.
I'm not saying I agree with the man completely. Because I don't completely agree with him. It's a tricky situation to say the least. And there are nuances to both sides that can't simply be ignored. Laws are great, laws keep order. But the best laws are not static but rather quite flexible. I remember hearing that in an episode of Star Trek once (and for the record, I have a good memory, I don't watch Star Trek episodes over and over again). The comment was simply that, for laws to be successful, and for society to evolve, the law has to be flexible. And it's true. What worked one hundred years ago... or two hundred years ago... may not quite work the same way as now.
Whether we like it or not, the country's economy does run on illegal immigrant workers. If we want to cut back on the influx of illegal immigration, we need to start attacking the roots of the problem. There are many people who probably would do those jobs, but at a fair price. If we want to curtail illegal immigration, one idea might be to force workers to pay their employees a fair price. But since I'm no economist, I don't know if that's even a feasible idea.
Still, intelligent debate and dialogue would be a better alternative than simple band-aid style solutions and suggestions.
posted by nonfinis at
5/05/2006 10:41:00 AM
1 Comments:
There's far too much gray area in this entire situation, and that's the problem. There is no simple, one-line approach that will fix the problem.
Kicking them all out, in addition to being logistically impossible, would do a great deal of damage to our already weak economy. Oh, and it'd be a jackass maneuver all the way around.
Letting them all become citizens doesn't work well either; not considering the other arguments against, there are about as many undocumented people in the US right now as passed through Ellis Island in the 62 years it was opperational.
By
Big Nick, at Sun May 07, 08:55:00 PM 2006
Post a Comment
<< Home