Middle Brick Road

Last night I read an article about a man who died, because of greed. Now the headline reads that a “Quadriplegic Undocumented Immigrant Dies In Mexico After Being Deported From His Hospital Bed,” but I can assure you that they are not telling the whole story. It is human nature to seek a better life, to provide for loved ones and to merely survive. I understand exactly why the immigrants come, I have been to Mexico and seen the children, unkempt, disheveled, dirty, wearing old clothes and selling chicle, handmade crafts, bracelets and so much more. I imagine just to eat.

I know, these are merely some of the children in Mexico, that surely not all are subjected to this fate of work instead of play, and that there are children in other lesser developed countries who suffer so much more than they do. But who is to measure suffering anyway? Suffering is suffering, no matter how much. So their mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, sisters and brothers . . . they come here. Sometimes they leave everyone behind just to come here. To slave in sweatshops, making clothes, toys, jewelry, to build our houses, fix our roads, work on our farms . . . do all the jobs that are too dangerous, too inferior and with too much hard labor for too many Americans to do, for too little money.

Take the article for what you will, another illegal immigrant, gone. But that man was someone’s son, brother and maybe even a father. I have seen the crimes first hand. Men, working seven days a week, from dawn until dusk, under the table, no insurance, no promise for tomorrow, making nothing but tips at a car wash in Southern California. We can do this to them because they are expendable, if one goes, tomorrow ten more will show up to replace them. And they put up with the mistreatment, the abuse, the long hard hours, and they work non-stop, because who will protect them? They are illegal immigrants, at least it is better than the life they would have in their own countries, isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?

The way I see it, the only difference between us is our citizenship. Our ability to pay the government taxes, and if you don’t pay them taxes, well then . . . they can’t protect you. They don’t hold the owner for the construction company responsible for the medical bills Quelino Ojeda Jimenez inured when he fell from a 20 ft building working for them and became paralyzed. Is this how other human beings should be treated? I don’t believe so.

At this point, your mind is likely raging and flooding with thoughts about immigration and what it means to you. It is very likely that somehow, it has had an effect on your life, therefore you feel very strongly about the topic. Great! But please, I beg you, put it all to the side for the next moment or so. Try to think of these people as fellow human beings, picture yourself or a family member if you have to, but just for a moment, think about how much it would take for you, to leave your family, your home, your culture, your country, everything you’ve known your entire life to work, like a slave . . .  in America.

Even now, many find it difficult to move. Or live separate lives from our families to make more money in a bigger city. At what price does it all come though? We all do what we have to do to survive, but shouldn’t anything that we do meet our basic needs? Shelter, clothe, feed and educate our families. Who knows, maybe in a self-proclaimed Christian nation, might we also find it important to keep people and the earth in good health, and to treat people as we would like to be treated. As I stated in My Letter to the President , “If workers cannot be exploited anywhere in the world, companies will not go overseas to do business.” The same use of logic can apply, in more of a trickle up type theory. If I have to pay my laborer $20 an hour to survive, I should pay my (insert prestigious career and pay here). The level by which we decide what types of activities involving human capital are and are not valued in this society, in my opinion, need altering, look for that topic in a future post.

As I said before, the least valued employee, anywhere in the world, should make at least enough to provide for their families. The only regulations we should have are that of fair treatment of workers. For that, it will take smart shoppers. If a product you like does not have practices you agree with, there is an app or website for that. Check out what you’re buying and if you want to keep buying it, write a letter and urge the company to change their practices. Confront businesses who hire illegal immigrants and treat them unfairly, refuse to give them your business until you know they have documented workers. If illegal immigrants cannot be exploited, businesses have no incentive to even hire these people in the first place.

I’ll say it again. If illegal immigrants, or migrant workers of any kind cannot be exploited, then businesses have NO incentives to hire them in the first place.

This my friends could not only fix the problems or perceived problems that come from illegal immigrants, but it could also open up possibilities of employment for legal workers, and encourage those who do choose to move to do so legally, as no jobs will be available for them otherwise.  Move yourself! Get involved. Nothing is going to change unless we change. We need to create an environment that is profitable for those who are honest and work hard, and harmful for those who take shortcuts and exploit other human beings. If a company is not honest about their practices they have something to hide and they should not get your business. You have the power to change the world, with every decision you make. I love Ron Paul, but protecting our borders from immigrants is not the answer. They won’t come here illegally, looking for jobs if there are none here for them.

Thanks for stopping by the Middle Brick Road, I hope you enjoyed this post. My name is Kacey and I am really big on health and all things natural – freedom – politics and bringing change by abandoning the boxes we too often put ourselves in.

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