Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Principles of Society
Laura Carlsen writes:
There is no doubt that immigration reform is an urgent national priority. Twelve million people living and working without citizenship, legal security, or labor rights, not only hurts them but erodes the democratic base of society, divides communities, and foments racism and discrimination. ...
The guest worker programs have a history of abuse. Moreover as immigration has shifted from the pattern of seasonal agricultural workers to work in permanent jobs in services and manufacturing, a guest worker program is little more than a guise to convert jobs with full rights and benefits into low-wage temporary contracts with little or no benefits...
Unlike murder or theft, immigration itself is not a universally condemned criminal act. ...
It is a problem of labor flows. These stem from deep economic roots that include economic policies in the sending countries, in the United States, and especially in the forms of integration between them. ...
Politics is the art of negotiating solutions. But there are times when it is foolish to attempt to reconcile diametrically opposed viewpoints, constructed on conflicting versions of the nature of the problem. There are times when one of those sides fails to reflect reality or violates basic principles of society. In other words, is simply wrong. So wrong that the implications for society are potentially disastrous. This is one of those times.
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3319
There is no doubt that immigration reform is an urgent national priority. Twelve million people living and working without citizenship, legal security, or labor rights, not only hurts them but erodes the democratic base of society, divides communities, and foments racism and discrimination. ...
The guest worker programs have a history of abuse. Moreover as immigration has shifted from the pattern of seasonal agricultural workers to work in permanent jobs in services and manufacturing, a guest worker program is little more than a guise to convert jobs with full rights and benefits into low-wage temporary contracts with little or no benefits...
Unlike murder or theft, immigration itself is not a universally condemned criminal act. ...
It is a problem of labor flows. These stem from deep economic roots that include economic policies in the sending countries, in the United States, and especially in the forms of integration between them. ...
Politics is the art of negotiating solutions. But there are times when it is foolish to attempt to reconcile diametrically opposed viewpoints, constructed on conflicting versions of the nature of the problem. There are times when one of those sides fails to reflect reality or violates basic principles of society. In other words, is simply wrong. So wrong that the implications for society are potentially disastrous. This is one of those times.
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3319
