I was reading about Germany's Angela Merkel rant on how the Turkish immigrant workers had become a failed policy. This similar to what other European nations and the United States are beginning to drag into the mainstream.
Which on an ideological front is valid. If you value cultural purity over multi-cultural dynamism - so be it.
But from a systems point of view if it wasn't for cheap immigrant labor Germany would, most likely, not be economically healthy enough to demand such purity from it's culture. And the future doesn't look any better with the median age getting older and the native birth rate getting smaller.
It is the same dilemma for all established democracies across the globe.
In the U.S. the middle class would not exist if it wasn't for cheap labor coming north from Mexico.
Some of the fundamentals of what it is to be middle class in the U.S.:
- The ability to renovate your house
- Cheap food, and affordable restaurants
- Affordable entertainment (cheaper hotels, cleaner public bathrooms)
just would not be available if it wasn't for immigrant labor.
And if you don't think the ability to add a room to your house isn't what it means to be middle class in the U.S., then you don't get the concept.
The point being is that there is a paradox to the speeches of a Angela Merkel or a Glenn Beck. Capitalist societies can not function without a constant influx of cheap labor. The only point of discussion is whether we build a viable immigration policy or turn a blind eye to it.
