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It is not just the US having this problem. We have same situation in South Africa. Currently, majority of waiters and farm labourers are illegal immigrants from

It is not just the US having this problem. We have same situation in South Africa. Currently, majority of waiters and farm labourers are illegal immigrants from our unfortunate neighbouring countries who are experiencing political challenges. I doubt even the poorest locals will even want to work for what these illegal immigrants are working for. There is no political will to end this modern day slavery because it is profitable and making things cheaper. Cheaper to those using them because the benefits are not trickling down to the consumer. From time to time, there will be xenophobic attacks because of this problem and scores of illegal immigrants will be killed. For over 10 years now, the problem is still there and no political will to solve it. In turn, we decided to make our borders porous. Allowing them to get in. We do deport them from time to time, only for them to come back. Problem is that not every illegal immigrant is here to work for peanuts. Some come to conduct the business of crime. Which is a bigger problem than someone stealing jobs locals aren't interested in doing. I am starting to believe that the whole capitalism system thrives on slavery of some sort. Cheap labour results in good profit.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
> I am starting to believe that the whole capitalism system thrives on slavery of some sort. Cheap labour results in good profit. It does, though it isn't an inherent part of capitalism - just the obvious outcome if nothing is done to prevent it. The market puts a strong pressure on lowering costs, and it takes only one bad actor to throw away some ethical value to cut costs, and all the other players need to either follow suit or face being priced out of the market. The solution is to make it so that throwing away ethical concerns doesn't reduce costs. The point I'm making here is that this is not the fault of capitalism per se, much like gasoline is itself not "evil". It's the fault of irresponsible application of capitalism, without covering the spots where it leads to dangerous outcomes. Much like putting gasoline in a properly designed combustion engine leads to a different outcome than pouring it on the floor and lighting a match. (The solution is further complicated by that, in a globalized economy, it takes one country to refrain from protecting the workers and most of the abuse will quickly shift to that country. See e.g. how clothes are made.)

TeMPOraL 9y ago

> I am starting to believe that the whole capitalism system thrives on slavery of some sort. Cheap labour results in good profit. It does, though it isn't an inherent part of capitalism - just the obvious outcome if nothing is done to prevent it. The market puts a strong pressure on lowering costs, and it takes only one bad actor to throw away some ethical value to cut costs, and all the other players need to either follow suit or face being priced out of the market. The solution is to make it so that throwing away ethical concerns doesn't reduce costs. The point I'm making here is that this is not the fault of capitalism per se, much like gasoline is itself not "evil". It's the fault of irresponsible application of capitalism, without covering the spots where it leads to dangerous outcomes. Much like putting gasoline in a properly designed combustion engine leads to a different outcome than pouring it on the floor and lighting a match. (The solution is further complicated by that, in a globalized economy, it takes one country to refrain from protecting the workers and most of the abuse will quickly shift to that country. See e.g. how clothes are made.)