So I was thinking about immigration and the construction industry. Just some thoughts... ruminations I suppose. Nothing grand, but a few questions and some thoughts from an average person with no special economic insight. But this is how I see it, from the construction industry's standpoint.
My grandfather was a contractor. He lived in Buffalo, New York. That side of the family came over from Ireland like millions others... down through Toronto to Buffalo and out. Before that we came from just north of Edinburgh in Scotland. For white people that's called geneology. For latinos in America, geneology is evidently considered by Conservatives to be synonymous with communism, or at least, offensively unpatriotic.
So, I was thinking about the housing situation here in America. And I was thinking about the construction industry and the recent crackdowns on immigration drummed up by the GOP to fuel their racist base for November 2006 (a good reason for latinos to register to vote I might add). And I was thinking about construction back when my grandfather built semi-modern houses out of wood in the 1950's, the quality of the details they could build back then, the quality of the wood; kinda makes your heart ache, huh?
So, now it's not the fifties obviously, and corporations no longer pay the same share of their income in taxes to the public institutions that made life seem so good in the 1950's, but there are things we can do to change that, if that's what we wanted to do.
One of the things about our current situation here in America that we're all going to I think need to get our heads around is that sooner or later, if we want to deal with our problems, we need to start thinking smaller. Employing more Americans in the manual labor (construction) and service positions that run our country will necessitate better conditions and higher levels of expertise, for higher incomes, higher standards of living, and in the end, a higher quality of product here in the U.S. That's one way, the European way, and it could lead to good things. However, it would necessitate a great deal more modesty and social cooperation here in America wrt our lifestyles. That would be the price of such a way, such a model. It would require subsidation, taxes, and a fair amount of isolationism. But then again, who wouldn't want to live in Switzerland, it's beautiful. Now of course we could never be Switzerland, this country is huge, and diverse. But we could change things dramatically and improve the quality of live for every citizen, drastically, and immediately, if that's what we wanted to do.
Personally, I think there are a large number of people that would like to see that happen. And from an ecological standpoint, I can't argue.
Close the borders? The only way to do that realistically is to take away the low paying jobs that no American wants to do and improve the conditions of said jobs to boot.
That could be funded by reducing corporate executive income to it's pre 1990 levels (taxes), so there's no need to worry about practicality in this scenario. We all know the only answer to today's problems is the rewinding of the redistribution of wealth back to 1950's levels so as to recreate that standard (not type) of living.
But thinking about construction and the way things are built in America, one realizes that if we do the things we're talking about wrt immigration, our construction industry is going to be hit in a way that is unimaginable, and for some reason doesn't seem to be talked about much. That's strange, huh?
Now, construction can pay well. But you can also get pretty cheap labor that pays much less if you're not too ethical. And so many contractors are not. Take it from me, from personal experience in the industry; illegal immigrants are building this country. We all recognize this.
But how does shutting down illegal immigration relate to housing costs and the American dream? If the price of labor doubles, what happens to that starter home in the midwest? Well, I'll tell you. If we shut down immigration by doing what we should, ie raising the living wage and cracking down on employers so as to fill American jobs with Americans, there's nothing for it, the quality of our buildings will improve because we'll have more professional workers earning higher pay for jobs they enjoy.
But we'll be living in houses and on lots that are half the size. Guess what. Quality is good for the environment. Nothing makes this builder more irate than a huge over-air conditioned starter mcmansion that feels empty, soulless, and sterile. Enough of that. Let's build like my grandfather did... smaller, sure; but the quality... and people say Democrats don't have any patriotic dreams...
I dream about an America where our kids can grow up in houses built without the sweat of illegality and poverty underlying it all.
We can employ Americans; it will have certain consequences, but I think they'd be healthy and great for our quality of life. Smaller more expensive buildings sound OK to this American builder. You get what you pay for, and I say it's time we get back to building the houses of quality that we used to... The places we set up to raise our families; I say we start building that with love and quality, and doing it with employed Americans earning real paychecks with real healthcare.
So, I figure that if America wants to get real about immigration, that's O.K. with me I guess. It'll change things, but if that's what we want, and we're willing to be responsible about it, I can see good things happening.
I can appreciate that some Americans are upset about the lack of good jobs. But please America, don't blame the immigrants. They built that home you live in and raise your kids in... they built it for pennies. No, blame the way the system lets big contractors cheat us all out of the jobs we deserve by law. Blame the Congress that refuses to enforce the law. And keep the real goal in sight; not to punish poor people trying to send money back to their families, but rather to make it impossible for them to get employed because the job's already filled by an American and they're getting paid a decent wage to do it.
That is the only humane way, the only way that any Religious person could approach this, in my view; if that were important to someone.
I'm sick of the idea of starting our families on the blood and off the backs of paupers living in the dust in some Mexican slum. That's not America, and it's time we stop taking advantage of people and told our corporate crooks that we want the 1950's back.
Only you can keep your Stepford Wives... ours are cuter... and we like the sass.