Immigration
A few closing thoughts for the evening… on immigration. The Republican chiefs — beholden to the same business interests as Democratic chiefs for big chunks of campaign cash — are now being hoisted on their own petard by the demands of capital accumulation. One of those demands is cheap, throwaway labor inside the US to keep wage floors low. (Gotta keep that inflation beast outside the door.)
A lot of pundits these days are saying (with reference to Guiliani, etc) that Republicans are at their core Christian conservatives who vote primarily against reproductive freedom for women. That’s true of one bloc; but the organizing principle of the Republican Party ever since Dick Nixon has been white supremacy, white supremacy, and white supremacy. So when big biz and white supremacy are not in conflict with one another, everything is hunky-dory.
But now big biz is facing the white supremacist call for sending all those brown workers back to the deeper than deep south; and big biz is shitting bricks… to coin a phrase. They know that this would be a disaster for productive capital inside the US, when all those jobs have to be given to people with full citizenship (who can seek political and legal redress); and finance capital knows that dumping 20 million people primarily back into Mexico would crush the Mexican economy and exacerbate the social tensions that are already brewing there (stolen elections, and rebellions in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guerrero… oh yeah, in Mexico City, too).
[Not all undocumented Latin@s in the US are Mexican, but the majority are; and the sheer weight of these numbers is what concerns the politicos.]
Revolution in Mexico is not seen as a minor matter by the chiefs of either party, given the left-shift of Latin America already in process.
Of course, on one is talking about these millions of “illegals,” at least not in any real way. Like what uprooting them will do to these whole families, which include a lot of kids. That’s why the left has consistently defended them, as people… because no one else seems inclined to do so.
Republicans are tip-toeing around immigration to mollify their white-supremacist base, while Capital tells them they absolutely cannot expel these workers. And now Democrats tip-toe around the war, with a big chunk of their base wanting out of Iraq yesterday; and Capital telling them we will have to cede our control over the entire oil patch if we leave.
How ’bout that!
Don’t know about anyone else; but I’ve made up my mind for the 2008 elections. NOTA. They can all rot in hell.
Linda c:
My wonderful neighbors are “illegals” that “run illegals” and are very well know for doing so. I wouldn’t trade them for all of the citizans in Arkansas. I trust them with everything down to my kid.
The really sad thing is “He” was killed in “cold-blood” after an auto accident in Hot Springs, with a drug crazed dealer. I poured my heart out, to Paula and the kids, but our very rural neighborhood was “glad he was gone”. I still cry about all of this. I helped out all that I could at the time – but they are really family oriented and take care of their own. I wouldn’t trade my neighbors for anyone and welcome all of their “family” with open arms. It’s sad that they always live with the “threat of deportation” – everyone should be as lucky as I am to have such wonderful people living next door.
13 June 2007, 8:15 amjay taber:
So aside from a dozen or so murders by vigilantes per year, everything goes on as before–only worse.
13 June 2007, 6:46 pmMitch:
So far it doesn’t seem like the Republican party will implode over this issue. Stan’s assessment was pretty good. I met a Mexican who needs some help getting his driver’s license renewed because it has expired. However, since the time his license expired the law has changed to require applicants for a driver’s license to show either a SS# or an order from an immigration judge. This was not the law when he was given his license. It’s this sort of thing that’s simply not only tacky but truly not how humans should be treated in a society -just change the rules midstream and criminalize an otherwise decent person. Some relief seems fair since we’ve turned a blind eye to the illegal crossings. In my view we’ve run this course long enough, it’s time to offer something in writing.
18 June 2007, 12:03 amRandy Morris:
Hi all,
Every so often it’s nice to read an overt simplification of the power dynamic of our government/ruling class. Take a minute to read this—if nothing else it might help in those ubiquitous arguments with FOX News zombies.
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2124.shtml
“The elites don’t exactly believe their own lies; rather, they proceed from neocon guru Leo Strauss’ dictum (the modus operandi of the ruling classes) that it is necessary to promulgate “noble lies” to society’s lower orders. This sort of virtuous mendacity must be practiced, because those varieties of upright apes (you and I) must be spared the complexities of the truth; otherwise, it will cause us to grow dangerously agitated — will cause us to rattle the bars of our cages and fling poop at our betters. They believe it’s better to ply us with lies because it’s less trouble then having to hose us down in our filthy cages. In this way, they believe, all naked apes will have a more agreeable existence within the hierarchy-bound monkey house of capitalism.”
Randy
26 June 2007, 10:03 pmThe Buffalo In Da' Midst:
Jesus’ General, normally viciously satirical [Example], gets serious about immigration & racism:
4 November 2007, 1:25 pm