'The man who wants to take your jobs'

[rus20376 at infolaunch.com (Adam Russell)]

>Message: 5
>Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 09:54:25 -0500 (EST)
>Subject: Re: 'The man who wants to take your jobs'
>From: "Rich Braun" <richb at pioneer.ci.net>
>To: discuss at blu.org
>
>A few days ago, I spotted a bumper sticker that said "America: Nation of
>Immigrants" (with the word America in a large font).  It reminded me of what I
>think is great about America and about Boston in particular:  people are drawn
>to this place from all over the world.  The melting pot of people and ideas
>has made Boston a dynamic place and driven its economy for centuries.

When The President says he wants to virtually open a floodgate of "guest workers" from 
Mexico do you think he does so because he shares your foolish romantic vision?
Of course not!! He does so at the behest of his corporate backers who know that
desperately poor people will work harder and longer hours for lower pay.

>I believe that (almost) anyone anywhere can become good at whatever they
>pursue.  Kids are encouraged by their cultural peers to pursue certain
>occupations:  in the USA you can find immigrant specialists in a variety of
>disciplines (by this I mean people like Irish plasterers, Filipino nurses,
>Brazilian carpenters, Indian software developers, and so on--they are taught
>at age 8 to pursue and master these occupations).  Anyone who starts out at a
>young age and knows exactly what to do is likely to be "better than" a
>dilettante who picks it up later in life.

You start to make a good point but then fall into some more silly claptrap.
Having worked with many Indian and Chinese developers I can tell you that virtualy NONE
have had some sort of long term interest software. Virtaully ALL of them had their degrees in something else(I recall one strikingy beuatiful Chinese co-worker; she had an undergraduate degree in traditional Chinese medicine), however, they heard about the big bucks to be made in software and either did a post-bac series of courses in software development offered in their home countries or they sometimes even came here and just sort of, well, lied their asses off and had friends at home provide them some BS references.
The valid point I thought you were starting to make is that the US doesn't value intellectual achievment like other countries. I believe it is still valued but it is just not the same cause for celebrity. For example, most russians would be able to name several of their famous poets but I doubt an american could do something similar. Unless you consider pop/rap singers to be poets. ;) 

>Today I find myself preferring to hire immigrants (construction workers) not
>because they are cheaper, but because they get the job done better and they
>show up when I need them.  This experience leads me to believe that my peers
>in the IT field are facing the same issue in their own hiring decisions.

Why not just keep them chained up in your basement? What you are doing in so morally corrupt so as to be just a fractional step above slavery. You see, your argument that immigrants are "better" is like saying Mexico is "better" for manufacturing because they allow US corps to poison the ground water and have zero regard for any concept of workers rights. Environemntal protections and labor standards are things that were fought for here to raise this countries standard of living. Now you suggest that treating working people with respect is some sort of liability?
Bottom line is that as americans we should not be willing to cede hard fought environmental and labor  gains for any reason!! Does Mr. Braun seriously suggest that we should lower our living standards to that of countries from which people are willing to work for subsistance wages? 


P.S. This discussion should have moved over to the biztalk list a long time ago.