The New Slaves--Who They Are
America's current use of foreign labor--here or abroad--is only the latest in an assortment of arrangements to obtain cheap labor and make some Americans filthy rich.
The original colonists came from England and Europe around the time that peasants were shaking off the yoke of a feudal society organized to hold those peasants in various degrees of serfdom. The earliest colonists brought indentured servants along when they sailed to the new world. Soon after their arrival, colonists began to import slaves from Africa and over time tightened the yoke of slavery as farming with slave labor became increasingly profitable.
When we had an agricultural economy, those who suffered worst from slavery were clearly the slaves. Racism rationalized popular indifference to the slaves' plight in a system of bondage that grew increasingly inhumane over time.
Free citizens who did not share in the profits of slavery suffered no loss from the growing wealth of those who did benefit from slavery. Slaves working on cash crops like cotton created little economic competition for small farmers who grew subsistence crops like corn. In an agricultural economy with land available for the taking out west, free citizen could simply pick up and break land in the wilderness. So it was not surprising if those free farmers failed to recognize that slavery was morally reprehensible. Those same free farmers might have been inspired to moral objections to slavery had that slavery been seen to cost those farmers in their own pocketbooks. It took a long time for abolitionists to recruit public opinion against slavery. The fire of decency had to be stoked by other issues, such as the very survival of the union, before it truly caught fire.
Today we do not have an agricultural economy. Today the New Slaves (aka foreign workers) are not forced to serve our rich. They are, indeed, eager to serve as cheap labor--in some cases eager enough to risk their lives to gain that opportunity.
Today the people who suffer most from cheap labor are the Americans who do not have jobs because their jobs go to foreign workers at home and abroad. Jobless America increasingly includes Baby Boomers who "age out" of employment because
2. Employers bring contract workers to America on temporary foreign work visas. These temporary foreign workers typically earn half what an American would earn to do the same job--or less--and they receive no benefits. Their visas are supposed to last no more than six years unless the worker applies to be a permanent resident of the United States, but no one is watching to see if the rules are followed. The companies that bring foreign workers into the United States are on an honor system...and we all know how well that works.
3. Illegal aliens or undocumented workers (depending on one's political leanings) simply enter the United States by means of their own devising. There are a lot of stereotypes about who they are and how they get here. They either work under-the-table--in the underground cash economy--or they obtain counterfeit papers that allow them to apply for jobs that Americans would be glad to have if those jobs paid living wages. The majority of illegal aliens have no intention of staying in America at the time they come here; although many end up "stuck" here, immigration was not their original intention.
These are three distinctly different groups with different pros and cons to consider from both their perspective and ours, so I will write about each separately in postings to come.
The original colonists came from England and Europe around the time that peasants were shaking off the yoke of a feudal society organized to hold those peasants in various degrees of serfdom. The earliest colonists brought indentured servants along when they sailed to the new world. Soon after their arrival, colonists began to import slaves from Africa and over time tightened the yoke of slavery as farming with slave labor became increasingly profitable.
When we had an agricultural economy, those who suffered worst from slavery were clearly the slaves. Racism rationalized popular indifference to the slaves' plight in a system of bondage that grew increasingly inhumane over time.
Free citizens who did not share in the profits of slavery suffered no loss from the growing wealth of those who did benefit from slavery. Slaves working on cash crops like cotton created little economic competition for small farmers who grew subsistence crops like corn. In an agricultural economy with land available for the taking out west, free citizen could simply pick up and break land in the wilderness. So it was not surprising if those free farmers failed to recognize that slavery was morally reprehensible. Those same free farmers might have been inspired to moral objections to slavery had that slavery been seen to cost those farmers in their own pocketbooks. It took a long time for abolitionists to recruit public opinion against slavery. The fire of decency had to be stoked by other issues, such as the very survival of the union, before it truly caught fire.
Today we do not have an agricultural economy. Today the New Slaves (aka foreign workers) are not forced to serve our rich. They are, indeed, eager to serve as cheap labor--in some cases eager enough to risk their lives to gain that opportunity.
Today the people who suffer most from cheap labor are the Americans who do not have jobs because their jobs go to foreign workers at home and abroad. Jobless America increasingly includes Baby Boomers who "age out" of employment because
- Their years of experience make them costly as higher earners.
- A business pays more for health insurance if older workers are on the payroll.
- There are New Slaves available to replace them at a cost reduction in almost every occupation, including many of the professions (all professions if you include foreign workers with counterfeit credentials)
I believe that we have to understand the pros and cons of the New Slavery to decide what is best for the future of our economy. And when I say, "understand the pros and cons," I don't just mean the pros and cons for Americans alone. We can't hope to understand the situation our economy is in, or decide the direction it needs to take, if we don't first attempt to see the world we live in from the other person's perspective as well as our own.
I am also not talking about new immigrants to America. New immigrants might be poorly paid for their labor when they first arrive in America but they aspire to more and aspire to have that more here. Immigrants who jump through all the hoops required to gain legal access to life in America are expressing their love for us and their intent to invest heart and soul in the future of our nation.
When immigrants take the oath of citizenship, they are saying, "For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part..." I cry every time I see a citizenship oath ceremony on television just as I might if a close relative were getting married. I feel the love when I see new immigrants taking the oath.
As a nation we have a history of mixed emotions about large groups of people joining our family all at one time, but join our family they do. In the end each group puts a stamp on us that we relish once we've had enough time to understand that we do love them back. Today America is recognized for the musical innovations that are African-American in origin, everyone in America is Irish on St. Paddy's Day, a congressman from Iowa farm country is comfortable speaking in Yiddish slang without feeling a need to explain the words he just used, and most urban Americans eat sushi.
So let us identify who we are talking about. There would seem to be three kinds of New Slaves:
1. American companies send work abroad to contracted foreign factories. Distributors import goods made abroad by foreign-owned factories. The work of whole corporate departments is sent abroad to provide highly skilled work (such as customer service, technical support, engineering, accounting, computer programming, preparation of tax returns) from remote locations and performed by foreign workers paid too poorly to buy any goods made in America--if any goods were made in America.I am also not talking about new immigrants to America. New immigrants might be poorly paid for their labor when they first arrive in America but they aspire to more and aspire to have that more here. Immigrants who jump through all the hoops required to gain legal access to life in America are expressing their love for us and their intent to invest heart and soul in the future of our nation.
When immigrants take the oath of citizenship, they are saying, "For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part..." I cry every time I see a citizenship oath ceremony on television just as I might if a close relative were getting married. I feel the love when I see new immigrants taking the oath.
As a nation we have a history of mixed emotions about large groups of people joining our family all at one time, but join our family they do. In the end each group puts a stamp on us that we relish once we've had enough time to understand that we do love them back. Today America is recognized for the musical innovations that are African-American in origin, everyone in America is Irish on St. Paddy's Day, a congressman from Iowa farm country is comfortable speaking in Yiddish slang without feeling a need to explain the words he just used, and most urban Americans eat sushi.
So let us identify who we are talking about. There would seem to be three kinds of New Slaves:
2. Employers bring contract workers to America on temporary foreign work visas. These temporary foreign workers typically earn half what an American would earn to do the same job--or less--and they receive no benefits. Their visas are supposed to last no more than six years unless the worker applies to be a permanent resident of the United States, but no one is watching to see if the rules are followed. The companies that bring foreign workers into the United States are on an honor system...and we all know how well that works.
3. Illegal aliens or undocumented workers (depending on one's political leanings) simply enter the United States by means of their own devising. There are a lot of stereotypes about who they are and how they get here. They either work under-the-table--in the underground cash economy--or they obtain counterfeit papers that allow them to apply for jobs that Americans would be glad to have if those jobs paid living wages. The majority of illegal aliens have no intention of staying in America at the time they come here; although many end up "stuck" here, immigration was not their original intention.
These are three distinctly different groups with different pros and cons to consider from both their perspective and ours, so I will write about each separately in postings to come.
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