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At the risk of generalizing, most of us reading this are of above-average intelligence, and have the ability to cope and thrive in a globalized world. We probab
by ern 10y ago
At the risk of generalizing, most of us reading this are of above-average intelligence, and have the ability to cope and thrive in a globalized world. We probably have more in common with the global elites than we do with the "lumpen proletariat", and most of us are probably nett beneficiaries of immigration. But a bit of empathy is in order. It's telling that Blair points out Eastern European EU migrants contribute more in taxes than they take out in welfare payments, while ignoring the effect they have on wages.
The dominant education narrative in the last few decades in the West has been envy of countries like China, Japan and Singapore, with (allegedly) superior education systems. The subtext being that intellectual achievement is the primary means of determining one's worth (or you will be "left behind"), with no recognition that many people just aren't capable of meeting standards set in cram schools on the other side of the planet. People who are not as capable intellectually are being increasingly marginalized in the quest to drive wages down for non-knowledge work. It's difficult to raise a family as a bus driver, a plumber, a cleaner or a shop assistant if your wages are being undercut by migrants, or (soon) by robots. It's tough to run a corner shop if you are undercut by migrants who, due to the need to remit money, are driven to sacrifice quality of life by keeping their shops open 24x7. The elites, by virtue of being elites, have been able to con working people to vote against their own interests for decades, and put open borders and free trade above all else; and their arrogance has blinded them to the fact that the masses would eventually cotton on to the game.
I am as horrified as anyone about the closing of minds and the rise of populism in the West. But I'm not surprised by it.
- airesQ 10y agoToo many compliments? Anyway. If the worker cannot move to the factory, the factory moves to the worker. That is the way of the world, and it causes many problems. Those problems need solutions. But I'm not convinced that getting rid of migrants will improve things. For the most part it just changes the place "where stuff happens". We had this revolution in the UK, and yet unemployment is at record lows[1]. Aren't migrants taking jobs? (Not sure about earnings though.) [1] - http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-rate http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemployment-...
- vinceguidry 10y ago> If the worker cannot move to the factory, the factory moves to the worker. > That is the way of the world, and it causes many problems. Factories need far fewer workers nowadays, due to continual improvements in technology. Globalization is already in retreat, but factory jobs are never coming back. Automation is not an all-or-nothing thing, in the long term jobs are lost, but over the short term automation has the effect of making jobs shittier. Labor becomes more and more fungible. The only people willing to do such shitty work are going to be those intensely motivated to do it, i.e. migrants. So they get scapegoated. Welfare initiatives like basic income will be tried but won't really have a huge impact on the squeezing of the middle class. Automation hasn't yet provided enough of a surplus to really provide for middle class lifestyles and won't for years. What it will do is take some of the pressure off of lower class existence. What we're going to see is greater geographical concentration of the classes. The middle class is going to have to start doing what the lower class has long gotten used to, moving to areas of greater opportunity.