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> Its just a fact that flooding a labor market with labor will cause working conditions and wages to be lower. This is.. a drastic oversimplification. Massive
by stormbrew 5y ago
> Its just a fact that flooding a labor market with labor will cause working conditions and wages to be lower.
This is.. a drastic oversimplification. Massive amounts of middle class growth in the post-war era was driven by a flood of women, who were previously largely barred from most middle class work, into the workforce. So it's clearly possible to have a sudden influx of workers and not depress wages.
The thing is, more people working means more people making money means more money moving around the market means, in theory, more money being spent on and paid to middle class people. Even Henry Ford understood that, but it's an idea that's lost on the modern liberal establishment on both sides of the American political aisle.
The big differences between then and now have a lot more to do with wealth redistribution than anything else. In the post-war era, until Reagan/Thatcher flipped the table, taxes were far more progressive and the social safety net was growing.
And while women weren't paid as much as men, and still aren't largely, that's nothing compared to the ways in which immigrants are underpaid since so many of them are undocumented, and visa programs are more and more designed to keep their negotiating power as close to zero as possible.
- ausudhz 5y agoYou're fighting the wrong battle. Immigrants are not to blame, they're more or less in the same position of middle class Americans of not worst. Point your finger at the rich and elite that pocket the benefits of the immigrants job and the (as you say) pay gap between US and non-US citizen. These people are likely to earn from immigrants twice: first the blame them to come to the US and gain political power, then they hire them in their company and give low wages. If you've to blame somewhere, pointing the finger to those who are in a worst situation is not the answer.
- ldjkfkdsjnv 5y agoI think your point about women is in itself an oversimplification. Post war era's always see a boom, many men died in the war creating a need, the USA was able to rise because Europe was effectively in ruin, and lastly in the end what happened? Wage debasement and the destruction of the middle class. What we see now is the result of decades of policy, not just a recent trend.
- stormbrew 5y agoWhat you're saying would make more sense if we were talking about a few years after the war, but the trend I'm referring to continued for decades after the war, well into baby boomers entering the workforce as a massive generational force. And yes, I am literally saying that decades of policy has had an effect on this, and that it's not just a recent issue. Decades of anti-tax policy has created an environment where wage growth is difficult if not impossible for most people, immigrants or not, and decades of anti-immigration policy has helped create a situation where most immigrants aren't in a position to demand fair wages to begin with.