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Devil's advocate: High trust, homogeneous societies are more likely to have more comprehensive safety nets. As trust diminishes (i.e. partisan Red vs. Blue bi

Devil's advocate: High trust, homogeneous societies are more likely to have more comprehensive safety nets. As trust diminishes (i.e. partisan Red vs. Blue bickering) and the population fragments into large heterogeneous groups, what is there to keep the safety net in place? Why would a bunch of immigrants from Central America, doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do (and at very low wages) want to see a significant portion of their paychecks siphoned off to pay for the retirement of old white people they've never met, in states they've never visited, and with whom they have very little in common? I think it is more likely that the attempt to try and cover Social Security shortfalls by importing labor will backfire, and that the new citizens will vote against paying more to cover retirement expenses for Boomers and Gen-X.

hx87 10y ago
Metadevil's advocate: Immigration to the United States (and to other ex-settler colonies) is fantastically effective at improving the portion of humanity that lives in high-trust societies. Why would a bunch of Central American immigrants contribute to the retirement of old non-Latino white people? The same reason a bunch of Italian immigrants contributed to the retirement of old Germans 80 years ago--the former view the latter as "us".
anigbrowl 10y ago
Why would a bunch of immigrants from Central America, doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do (and at very low wages) want to see a significant portion of their paychecks siphoned off to pay for the retirement of old white people they've never met Because they'd like a similar system to take care of them in their old age, same as if they'd been born here? Why are you adding race into it as if the economic factor weren't the primary driver? If participants in the system have access to the benefits, in the future, why should they care about ethnic disparities between the current workforce and the cohort of retired people? Your argument is that people of differing ethnic identity cam't have or perceive common or mutual economic interests.

hx87 10y ago

Metadevil's advocate: Immigration to the United States (and to other ex-settler colonies) is fantastically effective at improving the portion of humanity that lives in high-trust societies. Why would a bunch of Central American immigrants contribute to the retirement of old non-Latino white people? The same reason a bunch of Italian immigrants contributed to the retirement of old Germans 80 years ago--the former view the latter as "us".

anigbrowl 10y ago

Why would a bunch of immigrants from Central America, doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do (and at very low wages) want to see a significant portion of their paychecks siphoned off to pay for the retirement of old white people they've never met Because they'd like a similar system to take care of them in their old age, same as if they'd been born here? Why are you adding race into it as if the economic factor weren't the primary driver? If participants in the system have access to the benefits, in the future, why should they care about ethnic disparities between the current workforce and the cohort of retired people? Your argument is that people of differing ethnic identity cam't have or perceive common or mutual economic interests.