...I think people in the U.S. are not happy about the influx of Mexicans for other reasons though, some of which were mentioned. For instance, obviously other than the relatively small population of Native Americans, the United States is a country founded by immigrants. English, French, German, Polish, Irish, etc. Seems to me pretty much everyone learned how to speak English well enough to communicate with everyone else.
But recently, there has been a sharp, noticible trend of immigrants who speak Spanish but not English. Or very, very little English... like a few words. Why do we suddenly have multi-language menus and signs? Can these people not learn English as the Germans and French and Polish immigrants in the past did?
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What makes these Spanish-speaking individuals so special that we have to pander to them especially when they aren't even legally entitled to be in our country?
It's pretty much a modern myth that immigrants now learn the language and the culture of North American countries slowly then they did a hundred years ago. You have to think that the major European migrations happened from countries with similar languages and cultures. Scotts, Irish, English, and the like. Those are a given. However, the next largest...the 'original' russian immigrants (WWI era), influx of asian immigrants (public works), and Italians didn't intigrate nearly as well. That's why in a lot of major cities you have Little Italy, China Town, or Little Odessa. When these people came over in mass numbers they settled together because of cultural and language differences with the current inhabitants. Hence, they didn't intigrate or pick up the language nearly as well as you might think.
Usually immigrants who do pick up the language well are second generation, highly educated, or arrive in times where there aren't a massive influx of their people (or just settle in alternate areas). Of course, there are exceptions, but really, the Mexicans today are no different then the Asians 100 years ago.
As for why companies and even governments pander to them, that's all about the marketing dollars. It's a large portion of the population, so you're going to try to cater to them a bit. Most of the bank machines and such here have like 6 language options, and everything that is remotely similar to a menu or instruction has to be in at least English and French (speaking of people who never intigrated). Besides, there's really nothing wrong with a little multiculturalism.
As for Que's post, it's hard to tell if you're talking about immigrants or illegal immigrants. Eitherway, that is pretty much what america is about....an attitude of entitlement. As for the lack of jobs in america, a lot of that stems from said attitude. Just because you were born in america and you got your GED doesn't mean you have the right to earn 40,000 a year. You either have to be intelligent, hard working, lucky, or a combination. As for immigrants undercutting, while that is a general concern when it comes to illegal, it doesn't change the fact that it's the way the world works. In almost every real world job interview you walk into they ask you your desired salary. The guy who's the most qualified and undercuts the others is the guy that gets the job. Every time any type of contract is handed out it's usually to the company that offers the best work for the lowert price or whatever the ideal equilibrium is for whatever the contract refers to. It's just the way the world works. Yeah, it's unfair that there are illegal immigrants out there that do this, just as it's unfair that they skip line into the country, but you can't blame the contractors...they're just buisnessmen, and quite frankly, at least they're contributing something more to society then those who do nothing but run around filming them.
As for you changing and 'living like a pack rat', I have no idea where you got that from, but looking at it from a realist perspective - if you find yourself in a position where that could happen and you wish to stay competitive maybe you should. Life is all about choices, if you find yourself in a position where you have to make that choice then that sucks, but lowering your standard of living (or doing something proactive like finding another field of work) might be a wiser one then just not having any work at all and sitting around drinking all day and bitching about it.
As for Idol's post, he's pretty much right...there is no real study. It'd be an interesting one, but if I was to wager on it I'd bet that it wouldn't even out at all. Usually the majority cost of construction is labour, and that would probably skyrocket. That gets passed on to the subcontractor, to the contractor, to the owner, to whoever hires them (or in lost buisness for whatever they don't buy to make up for it), finally to major industry and then to the consumer. No one is going to absorb 100% or even a large portion of the price rise themselves, it'll be broken down a bit for everyone.
As said before, however, that in itself may help itself balance out a bit by a loss of services. Really, who knows...it's one of those things that's pointless to argue about because really even economists are just relying on pure theory when they discuss it and there's no real world data really to back it up.
Look, I'm not a supporter of illegal immigrants by any means and I personally woulnd't have any real objection to expelling them on a theoretical level...however, they do play a scapegoat role in our society. I also can't help but notice that a lot of people tend to be bitching about immigrants in general when the topic comes up and I find it somewhat amusing. My original post on the subject wasn't so much in the support of illegals as it was making fun of people criticizing them for stealing jobs when a lot of the time these people are total fucking deadbeats...with an attitude of entitlement.
