Bunch of lazy good-for-nothin's!

Via Pajamas Media, I found this disturbing analysis of the relative value of white versus Mexican workers:

...the nursery said they pay more for a good Mexican than any white boy they ever had working for them.

I can tell you from my own experience it’s true. I was never sued for workman’s comp by Mexicans (twice from white boys), I never had to discuss sick days with Mexicans (a constant battle with white boys) and I never had to push the Mexicans to finish an undone job with a little overtime (when it’s Miller Time for white boys they quit).

I wish it weren’t so. I wish the work ethic among the white boys were equal to the Mexican labor force. It’s not in my experience.

Somehow our weenie school system, video games, TV, draconian child labor laws and the hip hop culture has bred the work ethic out of our country. I fear for the white boy future. They don’t have one.

Jose and hose B do.

Mexicans 100 – White Boys 0

I hate to cast aspersions on the quality of any worker's abilities or disabilities because of his race. But the fact is, the most common reason given for the hiring of illegal aliens is that they will work for less money. In the case above, the rate offered was $11.00 per hour for "hard manual labor" and while a lot of white workers wanted the work, the employer seems to have discriminated against them in favor of the non-white workers:
Here’s what the nursery operator said: “Mostly we got calls from white boys. You know, pick-up drivin’ mullet wearing tattooed types. We used to hire them but they couldn’t finish a days work and never came back a second day. If they had to do actual work they complained all the time. Now we only hire Mexicans. We can tell who we will hire by their accent. If they speak English we don’t even discuss it. But we did get a couple who couldn’t speak a lick. They’ll be great.” Pure and simple reverse discrimination.
As I remarked in a previous post, I don't think the issue is so much money as it is getting the job done. Even more importantly, employers want something that used to be taken for granted in this country -- an arms length transaction:
Let's assume that the going wage for hacking out brambles and pulling up weeds is $15.00 per hour. If you hire an American, it's not an arms-length transaction. You have special duties to take care of his taxes and all that other fussy legal stuff. And what if he gets hurt and sues you? It isn't worth the risk, and the potential hassles are endless. The hourly rate is in my view a secondary, not a primary, factor.

Seen this way, I think that illegal aliens represent something much more important and compelling than a source of "cheap labor." They're a glimpse of that American freedom which was once our birthright.

In this country, there was a time when you could just agree with someone that in return for doing a certain thing, you'd pay him. And if he did the work, you could pay him, and that was that.

That's the way it was when I was a kid, and with aliens, it's still that way.

Under the present system, of course, they're considered to be "stealing jobs from U.S. citizens."

But has anyone stopped to ask why there wasn't an "underground economy" in the days of American freedom?

(It used to be a term generally reserved to describe private transactions in the Soviet Union.)

Once again, I think this unacknowledged problem stems from the ever expanded definitions of "rights" as obligations and entitlements.

Someone who thinks a job is an entitlement and that he has rights beyond the right to be paid when the work is done is unlikely to work as hard as someone who just wants to do the job and get paid.

This argument touches on something which is deeply disturbing (to me, at least) -- whether privacy is or has become un-American. Frankly, I like the idea of people who respect privacy, and who come from cultures where's there's nothing wrong with putting a wall around your yard, and where it's your own damned business what goes on inside.

But whether it's anti-American to value privacy is probably another topic, and I'm running late. . .

posted by Eric on 04.02.06 at 11:13 AM





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Comments

Before she joined the navy, my mother worked for Douglas Aircraft, and she has a similar tale to tell. When Douglas began hiring from out of area they noticed a surge in productivity. Further investigation showed that their new hires, refugees from the midwest for the most part, were responsible.

Local boys had a much greater propensity for showing up hung-over, calling in sick, punching in late, and stretching their break times. Some were even caught napping in various half-constucted aircraft.

By way of contrast, the new hires showed up on time and did what they were assigned to do. The dumb Okies thought a man should "earn what he was paid".

There's your productivity spike, right there.

J. Case   ·  April 2, 2006 01:37 PM

Well, gee, I'm so surprised that illegals don't file for workman's comp ;p

beautifulatrocities   ·  April 2, 2006 02:02 PM

Well, they can file for worker's comp:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20051019-110448-6286r.htm

I'm pretty sure most just don't know about it. Especially for recent arrivals, it's largely an alien concept (sorry....)

Eric Scheie   ·  April 2, 2006 06:29 PM

I'm not sure if it is privacy so much as adulthood at issue. If a man is an adult he can make decisions for himself and accept, and be expected to accept the consequences. I think that's what America is missing, more and more, is the belief in adulthood.

We're where France was 20 years ago, I'd guess.

Regarding Mexicans vs. Whiteboys- I'd guess the hardest working Mexicans come to the US to work, and the whiteboys who compete with them obviously aren't the cream of the crop, work ethic wise.

Harkonnendog   ·  April 4, 2006 09:11 PM

Nice site...look now

Ferrer   ·  April 13, 2006 08:41 PM


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