Protests (1 Viewer)

[KenHigg]

This blows my mind : Link

How do seek protection from something you don't want to particpate in?!?!?!?!?

Follow up:

WASHINGTON (AFP) Immigrants' rights advocates, elated by the resounding
success of Monday's "National Day of

Action," which drew the backing of hundreds of thousands of protester
across the United States, now are planning a national boycott which they
hope will have an even greater resonance.

Organizers are planning the May 1 "Great American Boycott," urging
illegal immigrants -- who cannot vote and who have only limited
political power -- to flex their economic muscle.

Protesters are being urged to refrain from shopping, and to stay away
from school and work.

You should take a moment to let that sink in.

This is a movement orchestrated by people who entered the US
illegally,and then want to scream about their "rights." WHAT RIGHTS?

Let's take a look at some of the many benefits that illegal aliens have
blessed our great country with: Street gangs, graffitti, drugs,
skyrocketing healthcare, depreciation of property value, illiteracy. The
list could go on. What they actually have to offer (cheap labor and a
strong work ethic) pales to what they have given our country to deal
with. I'll take expensive vegetables over expensive healthcare anyday!

And now, like terrorists, they are going to attack our economy. The
country they came to like locusts so they could reap the benefits is now
the focus of their boycott. You've seen it on TV: Marching on our
American streets waving their Mexican flags.

To all the real Americans, you can do one small thing on May 1st, 2006.
It won't be racist, nor will it be violent. It will not be boastful,
arrogant, selfish, nor distasteful. It will not be any of those things
that our "guests" have already displayed.

What it will do is nullify a movement.

All you have to do is buy something on May 1st. Make up for what they
will try to take away. It doesn't have to be a new car or house (unless
you were already planning on getting one). It simply needs to be a day
of trading.

Hold off grocery buying until May 1st. Take your wife out to eat that
night. Get the kids pizza, hamburgers, whatever! Make several trips to
the convenience store.

Buy your meals at work.

Fill up your tank.

Shop for clothes, furniture, outdoor equipment.

If it needs to be bought, BUY IT MAY 1st!

Those are just a few suggestions. We're not asking you to spend your
inheritance that day, but just to spend more than you

normally would. Even if it's only a few dollars, this will help soften
the blow that the Hispanics will try to inflict on our economy
that day. It sounds trivial at first, but if this idea gets around, what
the Hispanics set out to do will fail.

NOW COMES THE HARD PART:

This email will not self-destuct if you don't send it to someone. It
will not cause bad luck, nor will it make you impotent. It will not do
some trick or show a cute little animation if you send it to "X" amount
of people. You will not get paid for doing it.

It will not spread the message though, if it just gets deleted. Forward
at will.....

 

[dan-cat]

How do seek protection from something you don't want to particpate in?!?!?!?!?

The problem is Ken is that they have been participating... a quote from that link:

About 7.2 million illegal immigrants hold jobs in the United States, making up 4.9 percent of the overall labor force, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center. Undocumented workers make up 24 percent of farmworkers and hold 14 percent of construction jobs, the study found.

Yes they are illegal but it is also participation. They WANT to participate. They HAVE BEEN participating for years. They have served a clear purpose to our society ...cheap labor which can be used as a beast of burden. But look what happens when this beast starts to talk back... from your follow-up quote

And now, like terrorists, they are going to attack our economy. The
country they came to like locusts so they could reap the benefits is now
the focus of their boycott. You've seen it on TV: Marching on our
American streets waving their Mexican flags.

They get likened to murderers and pestilence. It's disgusting. No matter how you look at it, these immigrants are human and they will voice their opinion. The only way to stop that is to dehumanise them by comparing them to locusts and thus deny them their human qualities. Both sides are responsible, both sides are human. One side are illegal but this does not mean they are insects.

Yes Ken the situation is complicated but this does not mean we are dealing with terrorists. They are not flying planes into buildings and they are not driving car bombs into bus stops. If they cease working for a single day that means both the employers and illegal immigrants will not be breaking those employment laws that day. The situation will actually be more legal! How can a person be classed as a terrorist by the cessation of a criminal act for a day?
They can't, it's a simple exposure of the hypocrisy of American society.

 

[jsanders]

You'll be happy to know that this time you will be proceeding without my input.

 

[dan-cat]

You'll be happy to know that this time you will be proceeding without my input.

It seems otherwise.

 

[selenau837]

Yes, this was also on the news where I live. The News Media is making this situation worse.

If they had not of latched on to this story, this would not have been able to be spread nation wide as fast. Instead the media is exacerbating the problem.

I feel that anyone that is trying to harm the ecomomy of the country they live in is wrong. If you love the place you live in so much and want to stay, boycotting on a nation wide scale is not the way to do it.


These are just my random thoughts and can be picked apart if you wish.

 

[Bodisathva]

Yes they are illegal.

'nuff said.

They get likened to murderers and pestilence. It's disgusting.

Not everyone who is against any form of amnesty or thinks that these protests are not only 100% wrong but absolutely ridiculous , is guilty of racism... it's called pragmatism. You cannot intentionally hide from the law and then criticize it's protection of you. You cannot skirt the laws and regulations and think that there will be no retribution. That is asinine.

No matter how you look at it, these immigrants are human and they will voice their opinion.

Technically, following the letter of the Constitution, yes... but that doesn't validate the argument.

They have served a clear purpose to our society ...cheap labor which can be used as a beast of burden. But look what happens when this beast starts to talk back...

They are paid slave wages, expressly against minimum wage laws because they are illegal. They do not benefit from the protection of the law because they are illegal.

the situation is complicated

Because we are allowing it to become so. They have broken, are breaking, and, as the protests show, intend to go on breaking the law. They are, by definition and admission, criminals and should be treated as such. If they want the protection of the law, they should abide by the law. Dire need does not excuse one's actions, it merely displays extenuating circumstances. We can accept the reasoning but sooner or later someone has to pay the price for the transgression and I do not feel that it should be the law abiding citizens nor the immigrants who put forth the effort to legally enter the US.

 

[Rich]

I feel that anyone that is trying to harm the ecomomy of the country they live in is wrong. If you love the place you live in so much and want to stay, boycotting on a nation wide scale is not the way to do it.


These are just my random thoughts and can be picked apart if you wish.

I'm confused, how can they be harming the economy, from what I've seen here on other posts on the subject they're all a bunch of welfare scroungers.
Could it be that a lot of businesses are going to be hurt by them withdrawing their labour? If that's the case then they must be contributing to the economy of the US and therefore have the right to protest as much as anybody else.
If they don't then they're no more than slaves

 

[FoFa]

Yes, this was also on the news where I live. The News Media is making this situation worse. If they had not of latched on to this story, this would not have been able to be spread nation wide as fast. Instead the media is exacerbating the problem.

OK, I just can't resist:
DAH
Pretty much what I have been saying (just more eloquent) for awhile.

 

[selenau837]

I'm confused, how can they be harming the economy, from what I've seen here on other posts on the subject they're all a bunch of welfare scroungers.
Could it be that a lot of businesses are going to be hurt by them withdrawing their labour? If that's the case then they must be contributing to the economy of the US and therefore have the right to protest as much as anybody else.
If they don't then they're no more than slaves

If you read what I said 'trying' to harm the economy. I didn't say they were or were not harming it.

Just because they are on welfare, they still have money. The government just gives it to them instead of them earning it. No matter what, they have money. Which with this boycott, they are attempting to harm the 'precious Country' they are trying to reside in. You tell me, would you be welcoming them with open arms?

 

[TessB]

hmmmm.... if hispanics stayed home from school today, there would be a 60% absence rate at my kids high school. I heard today on the news that illegal immigrants cost Florida $2 billion dollars a year, and most of that is education costs.

I have no problem with people wanting a better life and working hard to do so. But I've seen too many instances of people who enter the country and collect benefits from a system they haven't paid into and even more who abuse the system.

 

[selenau837]

OK, I just can't resist:
DAH
Pretty much what I have been saying (just more eloquent) for awhile.

Great minds think alike.

I simply wish the news media would boycott some stories. The more they report on the subject, the bigger it gets. They are simply feeding the 'Machine'. Eventually it will be so large even the legal citizens will have no where to live. Eventually we will all self destruct.

 

[Rich]

If you read what I said 'trying' to harm the economy. I didn't say they were or were not harming it.

Just because they are on welfare, they still have money. The government just gives it to them instead of them earning it. No matter what, they have money. Which with this boycott, they are attempting to harm the 'precious Country' they are trying to reside in. You tell me, would you be welcoming them with open arms?

I still don't understand, are you saying they're no longer going to spend any money (welfare as you call it) in the US, how are they going to eat?
From what I've seen on the news it's American industry that's going to suffer and if that's the case then the majority of them cannot be classed as scroungers. As for not paying taxes etc. has anyone ever thought that they simply don't earn enough to contribute, should their kids therefore be denied basic care and education?

 

[FoFa]

I'm confused, how can they be harming the economy, from what I've seen here on other posts on the subject they're all a bunch of welfare scroungers.
Could it be that a lot of businesses are going to be hurt by them withdrawing their labour? If that's the case then they must be contributing to the economy of the US and therefore have the right to protest as much as anybody else.
If they don't then they're no more than slaves

Geesh Rich, Mr. nothing is black and white, all of a sudden gives only black and white choices.
Here is where I have a problem with this. Define "Contributing to the economy".
Of the fact they work, alabit cheaply, does that contriute to the economy? More so that a slight price increase and hiring legals that pay income tax? Typically the illegals buy very little, hence pay a small amount of sales tax, partly due to their wages I admit, but could not this made up for in the burden they are to the legal society? (Ok I don't really know myself, just thinking out loud here). I mean, are they truly contributing? I think there is more gray area in this question than Rich's response let's on. But as in all society, we should at least fall back on the laws as a point of reference. If these are wrong, then they need to be changed, either direction. But currently they are illegal, so are in fact not having the same rights as Americans. There are certain human rights that not included in that statement, and that is where everyone seems to be messing up. There is a clear line between the two. No they are not terroist, but they aren't citizens of the US of A either.
Now the second part of the equation is, what effect on the US's economy do these illegals really play? If they are indespisable, then we should think about aministy. If however they are a drain on society, then ship um home might be more along the lines. But some maybe keepers, and some throw backs, then what? Who decides? What ever the case maybe, the laws need to change, and be enforced so we do not go through this every major election.

 

[Rich]

Great minds think alike.

I simply wish the news media would boycott some stories.

You mean cover up what's really going on. You'll forgive me for mentioning that that already happens in the US

 

[KenHigg]

If they want the protection of the law, they should abide by the law.

Well put.

The question I have is why is it easier for a them to cross illegally than it is for them to be processed as a legal immigrant? Wouldn't that seem to be where we need to begin to look for a solution?

 

[Rich]

But currently they are illegal, so are in fact not having the same rights as Americans. There are certain human rights that not included in that statement, and that is where everyone seems to be messing up. There is a clear line between the two. No they are not terroist, but they aren't citizens of the US of A either.
Now the second part of the equation is, what effect on the US's economy do these illegals really play? If they are indespisable, then we should think about aministy. If however they are a drain on society, then ship um home might be more along the lines. But some maybe keepers, and some throw backs, then what? Who decides? What ever the case maybe, the laws need to change, and be enforced so we do not go through this every major election.

Define illegal and remind me who the country belonged to originally?

 

[FoFa]

Great minds think alike.

I simply wish the news media would boycott some stories. The more they report on the subject, the bigger it gets. They are simply feeding the 'Machine'. Eventually it will be so large even the legal citizens will have no where to live. Eventually we will all self destruct.

Actually I don't mind them reporting the story, even if it does lead to escalation, but they seem to report one sided. They make a much bigger deal about the people protesting, than they do about why, or what the effect maybe, or what a decision either way would mean to the average John/Jane Doe american citizen. Dang Hollywood intellect.

 

[selenau837]

I still don't understand, are you saying they're no longer going to spend any money (welfare as you call it) in the US, how are they going to eat?
From what I've seen on the news it's American industry that's going to suffer and if that's the case then the majority of them cannot be classed as scroungers. As for not paying taxes etc. has anyone ever thought that they simply don't earn enough to contribute, should their kids therefore be denied basic care and education?

Exactly, they are refusing to contribute in anyway today. Trying to prove a point. I am assuming they have already stocked up, so they do not have to 'buy' anything today.

Also, they 'simply don't earn enought' becuase they are not legal citiziens, and do not have the rights of minimum wage.

I'm not saying they are not human beings and do not have needs. What I am saying, if you wish to live in this country, and reap the rewards of living in this land of freedom, then do it legally. Stop being paid under the table, and contribute to society. Pay taxes, support the education system they are using. Be a contributing person to society instead of 'taking' what society has to give.

Wasn't the saying by JFK ...'Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for the country'?

 

[Rich]

Exactly, they are refusing to contribute in anyway today. Trying to prove a point. I am assuming they have already stocked up, so they do not have to 'buy' anything today.

Also, they 'simply don't earn enought' becuase they are not legal citiziens, and do not have the rights of minimum wage.

I'm not saying they are not human beings and do not have needs. What I am saying, if you wish to live in this country, and reap the rewards of living in this land of freedom, then do it legally. Stop being paid under the table, and contribute to society. Pay taxes, support the education system they are using. Be a contributing person to society instead of 'taking' what society have to give.

Wasn't the saying by JFK ...'Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for the country'?

How about some of theose poor blacks who don't earn enough to support themselves, are they to be thrown out too?

 

[FoFa]

Define illegal and remind me who the country belonged to originally?

Not worth the comment.