BretLudwig
November 30th 08, 04:09 AM
A California Reader Says Unemployed Americans’ “Plan B” Is “No
Mas”; etc.
From: Stephen Thomas (e-mail him)
>>"As unemployment climbs toward 10 percent, many displaced white-collar
Americans may contemplate a “Plan B” that includes dropping a few
rungs on the ladder of vocational expectations and taking a "survival gig"
to keep roof over head.
If they haven't been paying attention, they may be in for a
disappointment.
Americans have for the past two decades turned a blind eye toward the
usurpation of manual labor-type jobs by illegal aliens. Many assumed we
would never again need those jobs ourselves and we could wash our hands of
that type of work. Result: Mexicans now permanently occupy that entire
lower tier of employment.
And they aren't going anywhere (if they can help it).
Americans historically tended to work such jobs as stopgaps, then the job
rolled over to the next person in a jam. We called it “upward
mobility.”
Mexicans, on the other hand, often take menial jobs as the first step in
their lifelong careers. They don’t advance and basically "squat" in the
position.
Thus there is little turnover and therefore few opportunities for
Americans who have fallen on hard times to avail themselves of safety-net
employment.
And even when openings occur, small business employment
infrastructures—the hiring practices and people doing the hiring—have
become Mexicanized.
Americans will discover that Mexicans don’t look for or gain employment
in the old way we used to—the jobs aren’t posted, advertised or
interviewed for.
The market is conducted by personal contacts, the word passed among
friends and relatives.
In some of the small/mid-size manufacturing firms I call on, those outer
waiting rooms where Americans once filled out applications and waited for
an interview with a personnel director have been put to other use. They
have no legitimate purpose anymore.
When the production manager (himself often a Mexican immigrant) has an
opening, he puts the word out within the company. The next day, a fellow
worker shows up at the rear employee entrance with a "cousin" in tow,
vouches for him in a short conversation in Spanish, and the deal is done.
Meanwhile the clueless, newly-unemployed American who puts on a clean
shirt dutifully writes up all this references and is ready to sweat out an
interview is instead told "Sorry, we're not hiring."
When laid off in the 1982 recession I was in a bind—newly married, no
savings, etc.
But that was a different era. Even with high unemployment it was possible
to go to the warehouse district and round up a menial job stacking boxes,
sweeping floors or hosing out boxcars, etc. Because I also had experience
doing outside electrical work, I quickly got part-time work digging
trenches for conduits, too.
It wasn't fun, but it didn't kill me and it paid the rent and put food on
the table until I got back on my feet.
I'd hate to be in the position of trying to find work like that today."<<
Joe Guzzardi comments: Read Edwin S. Rubenstein’s series written for
VDARE.COM titled American Worker Displacement. All the statistical
evidence for Thomas’ letter are available to those who care to see
them.
http://www.vdare.com/letters/tl_112908.htm#b1
--
Message posted using http://www.talkaboutaudio.com/group/rec.audio.opinion/
More information at http://www.talkaboutaudio.com/faq.html
Mas”; etc.
From: Stephen Thomas (e-mail him)
>>"As unemployment climbs toward 10 percent, many displaced white-collar
Americans may contemplate a “Plan B” that includes dropping a few
rungs on the ladder of vocational expectations and taking a "survival gig"
to keep roof over head.
If they haven't been paying attention, they may be in for a
disappointment.
Americans have for the past two decades turned a blind eye toward the
usurpation of manual labor-type jobs by illegal aliens. Many assumed we
would never again need those jobs ourselves and we could wash our hands of
that type of work. Result: Mexicans now permanently occupy that entire
lower tier of employment.
And they aren't going anywhere (if they can help it).
Americans historically tended to work such jobs as stopgaps, then the job
rolled over to the next person in a jam. We called it “upward
mobility.”
Mexicans, on the other hand, often take menial jobs as the first step in
their lifelong careers. They don’t advance and basically "squat" in the
position.
Thus there is little turnover and therefore few opportunities for
Americans who have fallen on hard times to avail themselves of safety-net
employment.
And even when openings occur, small business employment
infrastructures—the hiring practices and people doing the hiring—have
become Mexicanized.
Americans will discover that Mexicans don’t look for or gain employment
in the old way we used to—the jobs aren’t posted, advertised or
interviewed for.
The market is conducted by personal contacts, the word passed among
friends and relatives.
In some of the small/mid-size manufacturing firms I call on, those outer
waiting rooms where Americans once filled out applications and waited for
an interview with a personnel director have been put to other use. They
have no legitimate purpose anymore.
When the production manager (himself often a Mexican immigrant) has an
opening, he puts the word out within the company. The next day, a fellow
worker shows up at the rear employee entrance with a "cousin" in tow,
vouches for him in a short conversation in Spanish, and the deal is done.
Meanwhile the clueless, newly-unemployed American who puts on a clean
shirt dutifully writes up all this references and is ready to sweat out an
interview is instead told "Sorry, we're not hiring."
When laid off in the 1982 recession I was in a bind—newly married, no
savings, etc.
But that was a different era. Even with high unemployment it was possible
to go to the warehouse district and round up a menial job stacking boxes,
sweeping floors or hosing out boxcars, etc. Because I also had experience
doing outside electrical work, I quickly got part-time work digging
trenches for conduits, too.
It wasn't fun, but it didn't kill me and it paid the rent and put food on
the table until I got back on my feet.
I'd hate to be in the position of trying to find work like that today."<<
Joe Guzzardi comments: Read Edwin S. Rubenstein’s series written for
VDARE.COM titled American Worker Displacement. All the statistical
evidence for Thomas’ letter are available to those who care to see
them.
http://www.vdare.com/letters/tl_112908.htm#b1
--
Message posted using http://www.talkaboutaudio.com/group/rec.audio.opinion/
More information at http://www.talkaboutaudio.com/faq.html