tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post7297580984455597303..comments2023-10-02T02:52:59.461-07:00Comments on Twigs and Brambles: Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-86159905855765381392007-11-27T20:19:00.000-08:002007-11-27T20:19:00.000-08:00I don't know that Colorado is any more racist than...I don't know that Colorado is any more racist than any other region--as everywhere, it has its residents who are. Where we live is fairly progressive-minded, so I haven't noticed much of that mindset...but then I've lived here only 2 1/2 years and am a stay-at-home dad, so that limits how broad a spectrum of people I spend any significant time with. Colorado, like much of the West, has a relatively strong libertarian streak, so I could see that jumping out at someone from the East Coast.<BR/><BR/>Certainly if anything were actually successful in cutting out all or most illegal immigration, we'd see correspondingly higher prices on many things, from agriculture to landscaping and roofing to retail products. And likely some people looking for work would find jobs...but so many of the jobs are those that even if the wages were significantly higher, I'm unconvinced that the jobs would all end up filled by native-born unemployed.<BR/><BR/>It's certainly a complex issue, and I don't want to sound like I have the answer or that there even is a simple one. But I'm confident that the secure-the-border-at-all-costs crowd are overlooking the realities of the situation.Daniel Ausemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-72417801891311096902007-11-27T12:10:00.000-08:002007-11-27T12:10:00.000-08:00One of the complaints I often hear levied against ...One of the complaints I often hear levied against Colorado (even big cities like Denver) is that there's a local tendency toward racism. Never been there myself, so I don't know how true it is.<BR/><BR/>Even the good arguments against turning a blind eye to illegal immigration fail to acknowledge one truth: our retail-markup economy is dependent on illegals who work for below minimum wage. It's likely we'd all be spending $25 on t-shirts if all sewing machine operators made a federally-regulated income. If anything that means we need to work harder to document everyone so that they can all make a living wage (and keep prices down by eliminating the retail system)... but I wonder how the "they're taking our jobs!" faction would react to that hike once everyone's deported.Lauren Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09517994602774355541noreply@blogger.com