Saturday, May 5, 2012

Like Walmart, except with people

You don't have to look far to find someone who is critical of Walmart.  People will complain that they import Chinese merchandise which puts Americans out of work.  They point to appliances, electronics, textiles, shoes, toys...all made in Asia.

And it isn't just the redneck "Amuricuns" who complain.  Very liberal-minded folks easily come up with disdain for Walmart and their foreign goods.

In places like Chicago the Democrat-dominated city council fights Walmart because of the lower wages they pay their workers.  Typically the council will negotiate by establishing a minimum wage ordinance and/or a benefits package.

The other issue some people have is the way small businesses are driven out by the competition.

But those same people fail to make any comparison to the illegal alien problem.  May I suggest that the illegal alien labor force is quite similar to importing large amounts of cheap, foreign goods.  It has the same effect.

There are huge numbers of people who buy simply on price and they will choose a cheap worker for the job, even if that worker is probably illegal.

Doing so tilts the scales against our own citizen workforce. 

I'm not saying Walmart hires illegal aliens.  What I'm saying is we can compare the concept of cheap, imported merchandise with cheap, imported labor.  The results are very similar and have a negative impact on our own jobs and workers.

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