Immigration

I've wanted to write about immigration for a long time. It's a situation that has not been addressed well through government policy. Over the years it seems that it has been used by politicians to define themselves and their opponents, and so it has been more convenient for both sides if the situation were to remain unsolved.

In some sense, being relaxed about illegal immigration has been a tacit conspiracy between government and business. The construction industry, food processing plants, assembly work, landscaping and janitorial companies, and restaurants and retail, to name a few employers have a huge need for low-wage unskilled or semi-skilled positions. These are the jobs that undocumented workers are able to fill, either because the employer keeps them off the books or accepts false identification without looking too closely at it. We all benefit from lower costs on goods and services, but our salaries are lower too. Citizens would likely take these jobs if they paid more, and they would probably pay more if there weren't undocumented aliens here willing to work for less. If all these jobs paid more because citizens took them for more money everyone at all levels of employment would make more, but then the cost of those goods and services would be higher so maybe it would all be the same.

The terms people use to refer to people who are in the country without citizenship or authorization reveals a lot about the attitude of the person choosing which term to use. Calling someone an "illegal" reveals the speaker as against that person being here and it's probably a good bet it reveals some racism as well. Referring to the person as "undocumented" shows a person more socially sensitive; it's the word I use, but it still defines a person by what they are not. "Alien" is not a bad word; it means "a person owing allegiance to a country other than that in which he or she lives, or any being or thing foreign to the environment in which it now exists" according to www.wordreference.com, but people don't seem to feel comfortable using it. We should think more about why aliens are here.

I often hear people say, " Breaking the law makes them illegal" or "I wouldn't mind them coming if they did it legally." For almost all of the people that emigrate from Mexico and Central America illegally, there is not a legal option. Citizens of other countries cannot say, "oh, let's move to the United States" and apply to move here. There are only certain circumstance in which citizens of other countries can move to the United States to live. American citizens who are immediate family can petition to unite their family in the US. American businesses can, after demonstrating they can't find American workers to fill a position, sponsor foreign workers who have a particular skill that is difficult to find. American employers such as produce growers can also seek foreign unskilled workers on a temporary basis because they say they can't find people in the United States who want to spend twelve hours a day in 100 degree temperatures bent over culling sprouts or harvesting radishes.

Refugees who are displaced from their homeland and would likely be persecuted or killed if they were to return can apply. Some recent examples of this are the Sudanese and Somalis who have sought refuge here. The last avenue is asylum. People who succeed in making it to American soil can ask for political asylum for much the same reasons that refugees do. A father in Mexico unable to find work to provide the basics of food, clothing, and shelter for his family need not apply. Three billion people in the world are living in dire poverty. How many would we be able to approve and who would decide? Clearly, a system allowing entry for people who just want a better life would be infeasible. To the father in Mexico who leaves his family behind, risking a dangerous border crossing to an unfamiliar land where he doesn't speak the language, hoping to find work with a company willing to hire him, the act doesn't feel illegal; it feels to him like he is responding to a higher law: the law of survival. I like to ask people to what lengths would they go to feed their children. The answer is usually, "whatever I have to". Fortunately, if an American can't inexplicably find work, he or she can just show up at a food bank or apply for food stamps.

 Building a wall seems entirely unnecessary; we create the demand for undocumented workers and for illegal drugs. It is very easy to determine if a person is legally eligible to work in the United States. Any business that hires someone illegally surely is breaking the law by looking the other way. We need to look at ourselves when it comes to blame for creating demand for illegal drugs. If we didn't buy them, no one would go through the trouble of bringing them here.

It seems it would make sense to establish some kind of temporary worker program by which people from Mexico, at least, could come and work for a limited period of time in areas of employment that are traditionally difficult to fill. This would meet some of our demand for workers at low-paying job and it would help some of our neighbors to the south. I also think we need to consider permitting those of whom we have been complicit in allowing to enter and work and have not committed significant crimes should be given a legal option for staying. Those whom were brought here as children should have a means of establishing citizenship and all the rights associated with it.

Prostate Surgery (prostatectomy report)

(I can't imagine that this will be of much interest unless you are planning to have prostate cancer surgery and you are wondering what to expect) Your experience may be different.

Eight years ago, at age 50, I had my first test for the Prostate Specific Antigen as is recommended. The score was within the standard range at 1.36. Four years later, the score had gone out of the standard range and my primary care physician suggested more investigation. They did a biopsy, which is a little more discomfort than they’d like you to think putting a tube up your anus and shooting needles into your prostate for core samples. It confirmed that there was some cancer and I was given some options: I could have surgery to remove the prostate, they could plant some radioactive seeds in there to effectively kill it in place, or I could “watchfully wait”. Nothing was urgent. Prostate cancer grows so slowly that for some older men it isn’t even treated, because it’s likely that they’ll die of something else before the prostate cancer becomes an issue. But, it does grow faster in younger men.

I scheduled surgery because a younger person handles it better, but then I cancelled it and decided to wait; I started eating a plant-based diet and upped my running.  I was kind of impressed that the next two test four months apart were back down into the standard range. They told me that dips could occur but that the trajectory would continue upward. I became less particular about what I ate and the numbers did start to go up, but I continued to “watchfully wait”.

I went about living my life and never really thought about it much, but I would sometimes wake up in the night in a panic, or mildly worried other times. Either way, you could say I was losing sleep over it, even though I believed that I wasn’t truly worried. The website for my healthcare provider allows me to graph test results over time. The PSA graph was starting to get steeper. There were occasional minor plunges, but by the summer of 2016 the general upward trend had continued and it was up to 8.73. One doctor had mentioned that some people test in the 100’s. I didn’t ask if they were living their last days, but the graph was looking steep on the right end. I opted for another biopsy and they took even more core samples and more of them were positive for cancer, so I decided to schedule for January, 2017. That was three weeks ago.

On the morning of surgery, I was out from 7:30 am until 10:30 am, but felt ok when I came to. I remember the surgeon saying people feel like they’ve been run over by a truck, a friend told me of a friend who needed lots of care the first few days of recovery, and a coworker who said her usually tough father cursed in pain at every bump in the road on the way home. This was not my experience. The surgeon was happy to note that as surgeries go, mine was boring, and that was a good thing. I expected pain, but didn’t even feel much, although my abdomen felt like I had done a few too many sit ups. I thought I’d be groggy from the anesthesia, but I did a couple of reasonable challenging crossword puzzles a few hours out of surgery, pointed out the multiple errors in Spanish language signage in my room, chatted with family, and ate a big turkey and gravy dinner. My daughter hung out that evening and we had a lengthy discussion about all kinds of unusual topics.

I’d never had a catheter before. It would be in place for ten days to allow for the urethra to heal around it where it was sewn back together. I thought it would be a huge annoyance, but I rather appreciated being able stay very hydrated and not think about having to head off to the bathroom. I walked just shy of 20 miles over those ten days. There were some occasional issues with what I would call back pressure and urine would not flow into the tube, but rather seep out around it. By the tenth morning I was ready to pull it out. I had the option of having a nurse remove it or do it myself. I’m a DIY kind of person and since I’d been dealing with it for ten days, I felt I should do the honors.

The remaining challenge is continence. I had done some Kegel exercised before the operation, but mostly just to be sure I knew what I was doing. I’ve been doing them more regularly now and I think I am making improvement, but there are times I wonder. I seem to do well lying down. I can maintain control for the most part and make it to the bathroom to pee like I haven’t since I can remember. It is a challenge to hold anything in walking around, and I realized rather early on that I was going to need something to absorb leaks because even just standing I continued to leak. I’m a runner and I decided to give it a try two weeks after surgery. I jogged 2 miles. I didn’t bother with any kind of pad; most of the leakage seemed to be absorbed by the lining of my sweats. The next day I jogged three miles and felt quite good. A cold that had been working its way through the family hit me the next day. Fortunately, it was mild and I took it easy for the next four days. Yesterday I ran jogged a couple more miles and today I added a little over three. I have not been able to hold it while running and running with a big soggy pad between my legs with all the other standard equipment is just too much, so I just let it flow. I've done a lot of laundry these past three weeks.

Tomorrow, I start back to work. The most I’ve been on my feet is about an hour at a time. I feel like I’ve been busy, but I admit I have been content to rest and relax for long stretches. I teach high school and I go non-stop for about six and a half hours. I hope a can get out to the restroom when I need to, to swap out some soggy gear before it works its way through to my clothes. I usually drink lots of water while working, but I think I’ll keep hydration to a minimum and assess at the end of the day if adjustments are necessary. Supposedly, 95% of men with this surgery gain their control back within 18 months. I am optimistic that it will be weeks, and very few, at that.

After two days of work, I can report that my energy level has been fine. I seem to still just leak throughout the day and have to make sure to get to the restroom every couple of hours. I've grown accustomed to swapping out Depend pads and I'm optimistic that this will not be necessary soon.

The Honest Price of Beer

In 1976 when I graduated from high school, the federal minimum wage was $2.30 per hour. I remember the beer I would buy costing $2.25 for a six pack. Today, in 2017 the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, but many states have a higher minimum wage; for example, the State of Colorado's minimum wage is now $9.30 per hour. A six pack of beer typically can be purchased for somewhere around an hour's worth of labor anywhere in the country.

To determine whether costs have remained fair over time it is useful to make comparisons like this. Throughout much of the eighties, I worked for a supermarket chain that was known to pay a good wage. A journeyman checker, stocker, meat wrapper, or other department clerk would typically be able to purchase a house with the wages they earned working full time. Any employee who worked a minimum of 16 hours per week received a full health and dental benefits package. Today, someone working the same positions would likely have to live with parents or share a place with roommates. Depending on their family situation such an employee may receive food stamps and qualify for Medicaid.

In 1986 and 1987 I worked full time at the supermarket and attended community college. I was able to pay for 15 or more semester hours with one week's salary. In 2017 it could take as many as ten weeks of salary working at the same grocery store to pay for a semester of community college.

Have salaries lagged or have education costs and home prices increase exorbitantly? To me, both of these have happened. Salaries have lagged across many fields. Traditional grocery stores faced competition from retailers such as Walmart making inroads into the grocery market that pay minimum salaries and almost no benefits. Grocery giants were happy to play the competition card and lower salaries to match. Over a period of 30 years, the cost of community college education has increased almost tenfold (not adjusted for inflation), while a journeyman grocery clerk salary is in effect half of what it was in the mid-eighties. The house I live in could have been purchased in the mid-eighties for around $50,000, a price that would have been within reach of that grocery clerk. If I were to put the house on the market right now, it would bring half a million dollars. Monthly payments on this three bedroom would require every dollar that clerk makes every month, with no money for food, clothing, health care, child care, transportation, savings for their child's education, not even a hard-earned six pack. I don't believe in a minimum wage, but something is wrong when huge international corporations expect the rest of us to subsidize their employees' compensation package by paying for their food stamps and medicaid.

Real estate and colleges have something in common. Their products are largely purchased with borrowed money. Realtors can help people get the most for their properties because banks are happy to loan whatever amount a buyer qualifies for. If these two entities weren't involved in the housing market, most homebuyers would probably be able to save for a house and buy it outright; the price of homes wouldn't increase exponentially like the do now. The real estate racket is effectively a pyramid scheme; the housing bubble is the equivalent of a pyramid scheme that runs out of innocent people to dupe. People might point to me and say, "look, you're house has increased $200k in value in the past three years; be happy." What's sad is that I've paid over $300k in interest so far and still owe more than half the value of my house.

Colleges know that students will be able to borrow whatever they need for their education and that the government will provide more funds based on rising college costs so they continue to increase tuition and fees every year. If a student has to borrow the money to attend college, and most do these days, many of the jobs that can be garnered with such an education are not worth it anymore. Engineering, Finance, and Pharmacology may be good bets, but no one should borrow money for their education to work as a teacher, social worker, or architect. I'm waiting for the day when an entity like www.khanacademy.com is able to acredit someone's knowledge and skill regardless of how they acquired it and for a nominal fee award a legitimate college degree; that would turn the money grabbing brick and mortar university system upside down.

I don't believe the traditional college should be free as Bernie Sanders had proposed, but it is unconscionable that it costs over $100,000. If that's loan money, it ends up being as  much as $200,000 once it's paid back. I think if the government and banks didn't loan money for college or it were limited, we would see the cost be reduced by at least half. A free education wouldn't be appreciated; I see it every day in high school.

I don't really have an answer here, but I think we need to think about how much we want to allow banks to earn from our basic needs of education and housing. If a wage or a cost doesn't pass the six pack pricing test, some entity is taking advantage of someone.

Trade Deficit Benefits

I’ve been importing from Mexico for 22 years and can provide some insight to how things work. I buy 1,000 pair of earrings for $2.00 a pair including shipping, let’s say. I turn around and sell them at $10.00 per pair. You might think that sounds like a rip off. Think about it this way: For that two dollars that went to the pocket of a neighbor, eight dollars were transacted here. I paid rent, insurance, advertising, employees, repairs and maintenance on my store, heat, lights, air-conditioning, cost of items damaged or stolen, credit card fees, etc. With some good fortune, I might earn $1.00 from that pair of earrings on which I pay 15% self-employment tax (social security), income tax, and if I didn’t have health care from a regular job I’d have to take that out too. So, for two dollars that left the country a neighbor to the south gets to buy materials to make more earrings and put food on the table.

Now let’s look at goods that travel the other direction. Kellogg’s makes some Corn Flakes in Michigan and sells 1,000 boxes of it to a distributor in Mexico for $2.00 a box who then turns and sells them to a bunch of the little mom and pop grocery stores that operate all over the country. We might imagine that the Corn Flakes would have a similar mark up as my earrings and sell for $10.00 a box. Nobody would buy them, of course. The overhead for the mom and pop store is much different than it is for me. Heat and air-conditioning aren’t usually necessary. They don’t need an employee, nor insurance, and own their space outright, so no rent. The box of Corn Flakes sells for about $3.50.

So, on their end, $2.00 left the country to pay for the Corn Flakes and $1.50 was added to the value in Mexico, whereas for the $2.00 that left our country, we added $8.00 of value.

You might think that we could be buying American earrings. If I were to find someone in the United States to make these earrings and they were to expect a reasonable income from their work, I would probably have to pay $20.00 per pair and let’s say I add that $8.00 to cover overhead so that they retail for $28.00. Remember that my profit before taxes was around $1.00. For a little business like this, $20 is a lot to risk to bring in $1.00, but the risk is actually much greater. These earrings that were appealing at $10 now seem like rather cheap goods for $28, so they sit around and get dirty and must be cleaned, then a pair gets stolen and another one gets scratched up because someone’s child dropped them on the floor. Suddenly, I’m out $60 and I haven’t made any money to pay that overhead.

We may have a trade deficit with a country, but it doesn’t mean we are losing money. Our sacrifice of some funds leaving the country generates a lot of commerce in this country as well as helping to keep a neighbor’s economy viable so they can buy our products, even if our products tend to be more expensive and they can’t generate as much commerce from it. 

We likely have more to lose than Mexico does if we try to make things even more to our favor. Many big American chains have opened up shop in Mexico. Walmart, Costco, Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, and others have put countless mom and pop stores and food vendors out of business, and turned Mexico into the most obese country in the world. There are already campaigns underway to boycott these business. Mexicans also preferred to buy American products over those from Asia because they were perceived to be of better quality and one there was a tendency to boast about owning an product made in the United States. Mexicans are a very proud people, and would be very happy to let those Corn Flakes sit on the shelf and collect dust.