There’s a very narrow sense in which it’s true: immigrants are willing to work harder, in worse conditions, for less pay… and therefore your life gets harder when you have to compete against them in the labor market.
But to keep the blame right there, you have to be a profoundly uncurious person.
Not just why they’re able to successfully undercut you, but also why they are incentivized to undercut you and why they’ve even been forced to relocate to your labor market in the first place.
In particular, thinking that more dramatic threats to the immigrant population (via increased enforcement) is going to make them a less exploitable labor competitor is uhhh… quite a remarkable delusion.
And ask yourself who their supervisor is going to be, who sells them food and beer, transport goods for that industry. No migrants means all those folks get a pay cut if not fired.
And global labor and environmental protections. Really whatever the IMF says poor nations have to do when in debt, I want them to do the opposite and for rich nations to help them be built up
I prefer a global minimum asset* tax for all who own and earn three or more times than someone from the poorest 10% in all countries they have assets in. Let’s start at 99.99999% tax over what’s beyond that net worth.
* Income, non-cooperative stocks, inheritance, wealth, bonuses, land, housing, etc.
And forced lifelong community service at conditions of their worst off employee (or worst off consumer), if they do not comply. This will continue for all who have that much wealth until the assets are fully given back to society.
Boycot tax havens, like the US, which demand US citizen tax data abroad yet refuse to share their own. If the US wants tax data it should give its own too. This requirement should be backed by defence, financed from the state (not private), and the defence should be everyone.
Solid agree from me. I love the idea of a wealth/asset tax*.
I’m not sure where the line lies, and I haven’t done the math to see where 3x the global 10% lands, but I think that is likely too small and would impact most of the ‘first world’ citizens who aren’t the problem, but a rolling plan to start higher and move down seems sound. If you start at everyone worth >$10Billion, you’ll have better luck selling this idea than if you start with everyone worth >$10k.
If everyone had all the resources they needed, there would likely be little innovation, but that innovation would be from the passionate.
But we’ve seen in the past few years that when all the resources are pooled, the owning class stops innovating and moves into hoarding instead and the motive moves to extracting value instead of creating it.
There is a happy middle ground somewhere, where people can be rewarded for work that adds value to society but not be incentivized to hoard it and others can choose to not add to society but still live a satisfying life.
*Your idea is a little nicer than mine, which is that we identify an absurd personal wealth line, like $10B (tied to some economic indicator), and then anyone over that line is executed and their property is returned to society and not inherited. Build in a grace period, so you have like a year to divest if you pass the threshold. That will heavily disincentivize hoarding.
The problem is there isn’t actually centralisation on the global level, let alone harmonisation. Fiscal policies don’t work if there is no political streamlining. There is no such streamlining if there isn’t any grassroots and political will.
I’m speaking from the EU experience. The euro isn’t really causing problems. The difference is that the European Central Bank is regulated than IMF.
Thank you. There is a reason half the population blames immigrants, and it’s because they undeniably are used to undercut wages, especially the undocumentated that can be abused and denied rights and deported on a whim from their employers. Oh, did I mention cheating? They straight up cheat them out of wages, because, fuck you, what are you going to do? Look at agricultural workers, picking fruit and such. They’ve temp agencies hire out, then cheat them out of a good share of their already paltry wages.
Paltry is too light a touch. They get paid shit, and these fucking farms use these temp agencies to cheat them even further.
Obviously it’s a side issue to the rich stealing our lunch, but this is what fuels the fascist takeover, and if we don’t confront in honestly, with strong leadership, we will lose.
There’s a very narrow sense in which it’s true: immigrants are willing to work harder, in worse conditions, for less pay… and therefore your life gets harder when you have to compete against them in the labor market.
But to keep the blame right there, you have to be a profoundly uncurious person.
Not just why they’re able to successfully undercut you, but also why they are incentivized to undercut you and why they’ve even been forced to relocate to your labor market in the first place.
In particular, thinking that more dramatic threats to the immigrant population (via increased enforcement) is going to make them a less exploitable labor competitor is uhhh… quite a remarkable delusion.
And ask yourself who their supervisor is going to be, who sells them food and beer, transport goods for that industry. No migrants means all those folks get a pay cut if not fired.
This is why I advocate for a global minimum wage.
And global labor and environmental protections. Really whatever the IMF says poor nations have to do when in debt, I want them to do the opposite and for rich nations to help them be built up
I prefer a global minimum asset* tax for all who own and earn three or more times than someone from the poorest 10% in all countries they have assets in. Let’s start at 99.99999% tax over what’s beyond that net worth.
* Income, non-cooperative stocks, inheritance, wealth, bonuses, land, housing, etc.
And forced lifelong community service at conditions of their worst off employee (or worst off consumer), if they do not comply. This will continue for all who have that much wealth until the assets are fully given back to society.
Boycot tax havens, like the US, which demand US citizen tax data abroad yet refuse to share their own. If the US wants tax data it should give its own too. This requirement should be backed by defence, financed from the state (not private), and the defence should be everyone.
Solid agree from me. I love the idea of a wealth/asset tax*.
I’m not sure where the line lies, and I haven’t done the math to see where 3x the global 10% lands, but I think that is likely too small and would impact most of the ‘first world’ citizens who aren’t the problem, but a rolling plan to start higher and move down seems sound. If you start at everyone worth >$10Billion, you’ll have better luck selling this idea than if you start with everyone worth >$10k.
If everyone had all the resources they needed, there would likely be little innovation, but that innovation would be from the passionate. But we’ve seen in the past few years that when all the resources are pooled, the owning class stops innovating and moves into hoarding instead and the motive moves to extracting value instead of creating it.
There is a happy middle ground somewhere, where people can be rewarded for work that adds value to society but not be incentivized to hoard it and others can choose to not add to society but still live a satisfying life.
*Your idea is a little nicer than mine, which is that we identify an absurd personal wealth line, like $10B (tied to some economic indicator), and then anyone over that line is executed and their property is returned to society and not inherited. Build in a grace period, so you have like a year to divest if you pass the threshold. That will heavily disincentivize hoarding.
Do you advocate for a global currency as well then?
Why not?
You should start by learning about the atrocities of the International Monetary Fund and then let your learning journey wander from there.
IMF doesn’t issue any currencies. You should read more than you think you know.
Yes, I understand that. I’m addressing the effects that centralizing monetary power globally can have.
The problem is there isn’t actually centralisation on the global level, let alone harmonisation. Fiscal policies don’t work if there is no political streamlining. There is no such streamlining if there isn’t any grassroots and political will.
I’m speaking from the EU experience. The euro isn’t really causing problems. The difference is that the European Central Bank is regulated than IMF.
Thank you. There is a reason half the population blames immigrants, and it’s because they undeniably are used to undercut wages, especially the undocumentated that can be abused and denied rights and deported on a whim from their employers. Oh, did I mention cheating? They straight up cheat them out of wages, because, fuck you, what are you going to do? Look at agricultural workers, picking fruit and such. They’ve temp agencies hire out, then cheat them out of a good share of their already paltry wages.
Paltry is too light a touch. They get paid shit, and these fucking farms use these temp agencies to cheat them even further.
Obviously it’s a side issue to the rich stealing our lunch, but this is what fuels the fascist takeover, and if we don’t confront in honestly, with strong leadership, we will lose.