There are many Donald Trump supporters that are under the belief that keeping Mexican immigrants out of the country will somehow bring wages up for American workers. There are others who believe that building The Wall will keep jobs in America. And then, there are those that believe that ending NAFTA will save America jobs. What all these people are missing is the inconvenient fact that Americans want their high-paying jobs while paying low prices at the grocery stores.
The problem is not immigrant workers willing to work for less. The problem is the American consumer who wants its cake and eat it as well. It doesn’t matter whether Trump succeeds in building The Wall or that he ends NAFTA. The jobs are gone and more will be lost. That’s a fact.
Here’s a little dirty secret the Trump Kool-Aid drinkers aren’t willing to acknowledge, Mexican immigration has been declining since 2012. It is unlikely to increase again. Why? It is very simple – the Mexican economy has been growing because of NAFTA. Yup, NAFTA, for all its faults, has accomplished its primary goal, grow the Mexican economy to allow the labor force to stay in México. But, hey, don’t let the facts hit the Trump voters square in the face because they are so deep into the Trump mystic that “fake news” is all they listen to.
Here’s another inconvenient fact, Trump voters and Americans, in general, love to pay cheap for things. Walmart is huge, not because of excellent service, or products but because their prices are cheap – at the expense of the workers. Yup, the workers pay the price for cheap goods.
But, they still fall for the Trump mystic that he will wave a magic wand, and all will be great again.
Sadly, all will not be great again. The Carrier job losses show us what will happen next.
As Trump continues to demonize immigrants, and near sided politicians continue to impose idiotic minimum wage schemes as public policy, the Walmarts of America aren’t going to jump on board and offer more jobs and raise wages. Nope, they’re going to bring in robots and automation to lower their costs by eliminating jobs. Why?
Because, you the American voter, believes that high wages and low prices can coexist.
Don’t believe me? Have you noticed the ordering and paying kiosks at your local Burger King, or McDonald’s? They aren’t there for your convenience, they are there to keep prices low by keeping workers off the payroll.
Next, you’ll see a manager. i.e. programmer, alone at the McDonald’s ensuring the automation is working at peek performance – cooking the burgers, assembling the salads, as you order, and pay via the kiosk on your way to the delivery shoot spitting out your meal.
So, what then? What are the American voters going to demand next, once that reality sinks in?
Are robots the next to deported?
Martin
Study after study has shown that NAFTA did not grow Mexico’s economy as was originally claimed it would. On this one you are being outright dishonest!
Next explain why under Obama’s DACA presidential order more than a million illegals had a pathway to citizenship, with help from the the U.S. government, but do nothing?
Some claim they were just to lazy but we believe that is nonsense! It was they just did not care and being illegal in America wasn’t a problem since no one was really enforcing the immigration laws to substantive levels any way under Obama!
Martin most people are not buying the poor Mexican illegal victim card any more it has expired!
Martin your own presents in America undermines your own argument about illegal immigration to the U.S.. Also a very good friend whose whole family immigrated legally from Mexico and all of this family became U.S. citizens and by even Mexico’s standards this family was dirt poor. Yep , my friend would tell you out right Martin you are full of caca on this one!
We all look for bargains. If people have little means they will go to the most inexpensive, can’t blame them for it.
Much has been written about Walmart and its exploitation of the employees, many depend on government assistance. Walmart doesn’t provide them with benefits, it purposely screws there work schedules etc. and all the profits go to the owners.
The unions made the middle class possible; they gave the workers bargaining power. They were our lobbyists in government. Now only the owners/the corporations can afford lobbyists so they can continue their thieving to satiate their greed. Hence the gap between the haves and the have-nots keeps growing.
The immigrants, especially the undocumented immigrants, will always serve as the scapegoats. Y ese trompas sure knows how to exploit them for political gain. Los estadounidenses will buy into this just like they bought into the anti-union rhetoric.
If one dealer sold that fancy vehicle you mentioned in a recent post for 10K less than the dealer next door, where would you purchase it?
It’s kind of scary stuff thinking about all the new technologies that are replacing people’s jobs up and down the hierarchy. One reads about the latest innovations that target those fields that one would never think possible, in the medical field, legal business, and so on. The scarier part is that it is happening so fast.
So I have been thinking, is it possible for a society to ‘disappear’ due to its technological advances? Could this be a reason why some of those ancient civilizations went extinct?