How can we solve immigration and retain our GREED?

[Festivito]

Let's face it, we're greedy. Our nation is greedy.

We do not want to pay immigrants well.
We want to use the disparity between our wealth and the wealth of their country in order to pay them less than we'd pay a local American.
We want to use their illegal status as leverage to pay them less.
We want to use their illegal status as leverage to make them work unduly hard.
Some even want to use the illegal status as leverage to, um, ahem, use them, um, inappropriately.
Well, we could ban that. Maybe.
(Oh, there are some do-gooders, but they'd pay anyone well.)

We don't want to lose people who will work unduly hard, thus, we don't want to give illegals amnesty under any circumstance, temporary status, work permits, etc. no, nothing, none, NADA.

We don't want to pay them less so we want to continue, even foster, the disparity between the wealth of our nations.

I imagine we will just make some pithy little concessions and further enforcements that won't last and won't put too big a dent into the supply of these workers. In fact, more enforcement may lead to more of them being leveraged into that unduly hard and that inappropriate category.

But, all the better for our GREED. Fighting greed would be a different post. What can we do to retain our greed is this post.

Please, some ideas.

[HereSince1628]

1. You got a mouse in your pocket? What's with the"we" stuff?

You really think I have a say in Tyson Foods' wage structure?

You think I have something to do with IBP's hiring practices?

You really think that I make the policy that forces illegals going to work in Arkansan forests to pay to sharpen the chains of the saws they dull as they work for slave wages?

It seems to be your contention that "we" are an overdeveloped, ecomomically obese nation that should be feeling some self-loathing. I don't feel that way.

Maybe you feel guilty about your greed. Personally I don't feel especially greedy or guilty. I spent well over $100K in real costs and lost wages on a PHD and in the last year I taught, I didn't even earn $37,000 a year. Some of my students started jobs with their baccalaureate degrees at the same wages I earned after a career of effort.

But, I'm not bitching about my life. I took my vow and lived my life of priviledged poverty. I participated honestly in a nobel profession, and got precious little other reward than personal satisfaction.

Please leave me out of your bloody over-generalizing "we."

[Festivito]

2. We, the people in our majority acts.

So, you're a do-gooder. I said they exist.

Did everyone in this country want to steal land from the indigenous Americans here before us?
No! There were do-gooders back then too.

So? Did "WE" steal it anyway? YES! We the people. WE.
Did we bring slaves to this country for years and years? YES! We. We the people.
(Did we later fight and dispense with that practice? Yes, we did. Bully for the do-gooders.)
Did we pollute our waters and air? THEY ARE POLLUTED! Yes. WE did.

Do you have something to do with these and those things you mention. YES, whether you like it or not you're in this country, in its jurisdiction and able to speak up and stop it. YOU're involved.

So, am I. And, you and I, we don't like it. Do we? Haven't we shouted loudly enough? Haven't we reasoned clearly enough?

It's not the "we" in your post or the "greed" in my post that is the real problem, is it? It's us. We have, and continue to fail to instill fairness into each other, you, me, and everyone else. I wish I had a real answer.

WE're just going to muck this up again and I don't know what to do.