A few weeks ago I watched a stand-up special by comedian Doug Stanhope. He came out in a Libertarian T-Shirt and I thought "this should be interesting." And it was, he spoke a lot about drugs and smoking and the like but then went on a diatribe about immigration that was not only hilarious but spot-on as well.
After a little poking around I found this bit of his online although it was from a special on British TV. This clip is even better because it splices in interviews with him discussing his stance. Dig:
I love when he's talking about the types of jobs that illegal immigrants actually take. Poor people can never catch a break in this country. If you're a poor citizen you're told it's your own fault your poor, you've had the same opportunity to succeed as everyone else, and you shouldn't be on welfare even though millions of unskilled jobs in this country pay a poverty-level wage. If you're an illegal immigrant you're told you can't have any of our jobs that pay below the poverty level. Man, who the heck is going to sweep the floors, clean motel rooms, or serve food in this country?
It reminded me of Nickel And Dimed a book I read a couple of years ago; one that really opened my mind to the plight of the working poor and made me more aware of the similar environment I grew up in. It's a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.
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Week 1 in Florida is officially over and there are two days off ahead of me. I'm headed to Vero Beach tomorrow to watch the Dodgers' Spring Training. I can't wait. Hopefully there will be much pool lounging if the weather gets a little warmer, out of nowhere this chilly wind blew in today. I thought Indiana weather was psychotic but Florida just might be worse. Blistering heat one second, torrential down poor for ten minutes, gray and humid the next second, etc.
If you didn't hear, Milo took his first steps this week. I predicted I would miss this milestone last month and I really hate being right.
Now There's A Libertarian I Can Get Behind!
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- at 10:16 PM on Saturday, March 08, 2008
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12:58 AM
Yeah, a lot of people don't understand just how many jobs could be performed by a trained monkey, if we decided to do so. Society has hit a point where there are more people than jobs, and our economy requires both parents to work at least one full time job. This leave parents competing with children for the wonderful title of 'register-jockey' and often no one at home to watch the kids except other kids.
... Sorry. I'll stop before I get too into it. I was talking to someone earlier about this, so I'm a bit worked up.
Very cool to hear about the littl'un though. I'm sure before you know it you'll both be shouting "No! Milo come back here!" :D -
6:19 AM
Its a problem of mammoth proportions, really. I think lots of folks who are fired up about illegal immigrants don't realize how profound the impact to businesses would be, what it would do to the economy, cost of living, were we to eliminate that critical element in our work force. Sorry; true.
"Getting ahead" is part of the American mindset, and this is a very big contributor to the two-working parent model dilemma. There is such pressure to have things that valuable (critical?)time is lost. Its very difficult to opt out, especially if a single parent's income is not substantial. - 6:25 AM
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9:31 PM
Yeah Ly. I'm always around, even if I'm not commenting. ;) But nah man, I'm not a fan of worked-uped-ness. Instead I'll just say that this is why I'm an insanely liberal guy and often look the way of socialism and think "Hey, that's not all bad.
Eventually a time will come, though probably not in my lifetime, when relatively few traditional jobs will require a human element. When that time comes, I just hope we have the good sense to largely split the spoils, instead of hoarding and seeking control over others. But I'm not an optimist. - 10:34 PM
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11:20 PM
D'oh, sorry man. I made the first post when checking my 'professional' email account (jwbridges,) and forgot this thing uses whatever gmail account you're in at the time.
But yeah, if automation continues, and I see no evidence that it won't, given time we'll either adopt a socialist utopia or horrible corporate feudalism. My money's on the second.
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