This blog post is largely excerpted from a speech made by Václav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic in a speech given to a group of Americans in Berlin on 11 June 2011.
Mr. Klaus sees Europe’s problems as an economic structural problem, which has embraced social permissiveness, anti-market practices, and a principle of money redistribution. Europeans have believed that the most favorable form of government is one of weakened nation-states with the concomitant strengthening of supranational institutions. He pointed out that only within states can democracy function effectively. The unification of Europe in the “Euro zone” was intended to accelerate economic growth, reduce inflation, and protect member states against external economic disruptions—it has failed in all three goals. Europe’s developing social democratic system with its generous social benefits, weakened motivation, shortened working hours, and lowered retirement age, have all diminished the labor supply and resulted in decreased productivity.
He said, “…we have witnessed a gradual shift away from liberalizing and removing barriers and towards a massive introduction of regulation from above, an ever-expanding welfare system, new and more sophisticated forms of protectionism, and continuously growing legal and regulatory burdens on business. All of these weaken and restrain freedom, democracy, and democratic accountability, not to mention economic efficiency, entrepreneurship and competitiveness.
“Europeans today prefer leisure to performance, security to risk-taking, paternalism to free markets, collectivism and group entitlements to individualism. They have always been more risk-averse than Americans, but the difference continues to grow. Economic freedom has a very low priority here. It seems that Europeans are not interested in capitalism and free markets and do not understand that their current behavior undermines the very institutions that made their past success possible. They are eager to defend their non-economic freedoms—the easiness, looseness, laxity and permissiveness of modern European society—but when it comes to their economic freedoms, they are quite indifferent.”
In conclusion, he pointed out that “…the way your American government has been going, you might be able to catch up with us—in terms of our problems—very soon. But you are not as far along, yet. So, maybe seeing Europe’s crisis today will at least help you in America turn back toward freedom.”
I would observe that our American system with its increasing regulation and taxation of business and its promotion of moral laxity is well on the way of adopting Europe’s problems.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
What’s the Answer to the Immigrant Problem?
On 6 September 2100, I specified the reason we are having a problem with illegal immigrants in the United States. Today, I intend to give my answer to this problem.
It must be realized that under the present circumstances with millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, they are collectively sending about $15-20 billion dollars home to relatives in Latin America yearly in the form of remittances. These illegal immigrants are facing increasing difficulties here in the U.S. finding jobs. States are cracking down on them; and even the Federal Government is taking some steps to discourage their presence here. From years of personal experience with these immigrants in southwest Denver, Nancy and I have seen first-hand the miserable circumstances in which these poor people live. It has seemed to me that there must be a better solution to this problem of illegal presence than allowing all the random chaos at the border, which we see today.
We need to find a win-win situation for these poor people as well, for Mexico, and for the United States. Fortunately, there is just such a solution to the problem.
I believe that the United States should start by building an impenetrable fence all the way across the southern border. Then, we should institute an immigrant guest worker program with specified numbers of workers allowed into the country to operate our agricultural and service industries. These guest workers should have temporary legal visas to stay here and work for a specified period of time, at the end of which, they must go home or get the visa renewed. Then these workers should be allowed to send as much money as they wish back home to Mexico; and that amount of money should be documented. Then, yearly, that amount of money should be subtracted from the $20 billion that is already flowing to Mexico and difference should be used to stimulate the Mexican agricultural, educational, and law enforcement economies under very strictly supervised programs. Employers who hire illegal immigrants should be severely fined and/or penalized.
As a corollary to this program, the practice of declaring “anchor babies” here in the states American citizen should be discontinued. (At present, any baby born to illegal immigrants in the United States is automatically designated as a legal citizen of this country. These babies are called “anchor babies.”) This practice is absolute nonsense; and it should be discontinued immediately!
I believe that measures such as the ones I have outlined would greatly mitigate the problem we have with illegal immigrants in the United States.
It must be realized that under the present circumstances with millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, they are collectively sending about $15-20 billion dollars home to relatives in Latin America yearly in the form of remittances. These illegal immigrants are facing increasing difficulties here in the U.S. finding jobs. States are cracking down on them; and even the Federal Government is taking some steps to discourage their presence here. From years of personal experience with these immigrants in southwest Denver, Nancy and I have seen first-hand the miserable circumstances in which these poor people live. It has seemed to me that there must be a better solution to this problem of illegal presence than allowing all the random chaos at the border, which we see today.
We need to find a win-win situation for these poor people as well, for Mexico, and for the United States. Fortunately, there is just such a solution to the problem.
I believe that the United States should start by building an impenetrable fence all the way across the southern border. Then, we should institute an immigrant guest worker program with specified numbers of workers allowed into the country to operate our agricultural and service industries. These guest workers should have temporary legal visas to stay here and work for a specified period of time, at the end of which, they must go home or get the visa renewed. Then these workers should be allowed to send as much money as they wish back home to Mexico; and that amount of money should be documented. Then, yearly, that amount of money should be subtracted from the $20 billion that is already flowing to Mexico and difference should be used to stimulate the Mexican agricultural, educational, and law enforcement economies under very strictly supervised programs. Employers who hire illegal immigrants should be severely fined and/or penalized.
As a corollary to this program, the practice of declaring “anchor babies” here in the states American citizen should be discontinued. (At present, any baby born to illegal immigrants in the United States is automatically designated as a legal citizen of this country. These babies are called “anchor babies.”) This practice is absolute nonsense; and it should be discontinued immediately!
I believe that measures such as the ones I have outlined would greatly mitigate the problem we have with illegal immigrants in the United States.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Why Do We Have an Immigrant Problem?
Every day, hundreds of illegal immigrants pour across the Mexican border. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are approximately 500,000 illegal entries into the United States yearly. Even considering that, however, the total number of illegals in the U.S. has been decreasing slightly in recent years—due to the fact that some of them are going home for one reason or another.
The main reasons for illegal immigration into the U.S. are several. First, there is not enough arable land in Mexico to support their food supply needs.
Mexico has two agricultural systems, operating parallel to each other. Producing foods as cash crops for export is the primary goal of large-scale farmers. Although only about 15% of Mexico's land is arable, or suitable for cultivation, 88% of the arable land is used for cultivation of export crops and for grazing cattle. What large-scale farmers produce is determined by what brings the highest prices in international markets. Since the 1970s, most large-scale farmers have been producing the non-traditional crops such as fresh flowers; fresh and processed fruits such as tomatoes, melons, pineapples, strawberries, and mangos; also produced are fresh vegetables such as artichokes, cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, peppers, broccoli, snow peas, and asparagus. Additionally, there are the traditional exports that feed Mexico's northern neighbors, such as sugar, coffee, bananas and cattle. During winter and spring, more than half the fresh vegetables consumed in the United States come from Mexico. They sell to transnational corporations that process or directly transport the products to warehouses and eventually to grocers.
Among those who benefit from the large-scale agricultural system are local wealthy farming cartels and transnational corporations such as Del Monte, Green Giant, Heinz, United Brands, Castle and Cooke, PepsiCo, Ralston Purina, Campbell's, General Foods, Beatrice Foods, Gerber, Kellogg, Kraft and Nestle. Rarely do these corporations own land. Instead, they contract with large-scale farmers. The corporations have capital to invest in technology, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, transport systems, and marketing.
In recent decades, more and more of Mexico’s arable lands have been converted into the food export industry, so that Mexico is having a hard time producing the corn, beans, and cattle which are needed for the feeding of Mexico’s people, especially, the poor people. It is estimated by the World Bank that half of Mexico’s rural children are malnourished.
In other words, Mexico’s people are starving. Is it any wonder, then, that many young Mexican men are emigrating to the United States to find money to support their families back home? Of course, some of them end up in the larger Mexican cities working in the illegal drug and crime industries. Many Latinos, however, emigrate just because of the crime and violence they find at home. Recently, drug dealers have begun to demand half of the salaries of teachers in the public schools in some districts. They make these demands under threat of death.
Police and government corruption is rampant in Central America, even more than in Mexico, if that can be imagined. With all these incentives, we can understand why poor Mexican and Central Americans will do just about anything to escape such terrible circumstances.
My next blog post will specify what I envision as an answer to this problem.
The main reasons for illegal immigration into the U.S. are several. First, there is not enough arable land in Mexico to support their food supply needs.
Mexico has two agricultural systems, operating parallel to each other. Producing foods as cash crops for export is the primary goal of large-scale farmers. Although only about 15% of Mexico's land is arable, or suitable for cultivation, 88% of the arable land is used for cultivation of export crops and for grazing cattle. What large-scale farmers produce is determined by what brings the highest prices in international markets. Since the 1970s, most large-scale farmers have been producing the non-traditional crops such as fresh flowers; fresh and processed fruits such as tomatoes, melons, pineapples, strawberries, and mangos; also produced are fresh vegetables such as artichokes, cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, peppers, broccoli, snow peas, and asparagus. Additionally, there are the traditional exports that feed Mexico's northern neighbors, such as sugar, coffee, bananas and cattle. During winter and spring, more than half the fresh vegetables consumed in the United States come from Mexico. They sell to transnational corporations that process or directly transport the products to warehouses and eventually to grocers.
Among those who benefit from the large-scale agricultural system are local wealthy farming cartels and transnational corporations such as Del Monte, Green Giant, Heinz, United Brands, Castle and Cooke, PepsiCo, Ralston Purina, Campbell's, General Foods, Beatrice Foods, Gerber, Kellogg, Kraft and Nestle. Rarely do these corporations own land. Instead, they contract with large-scale farmers. The corporations have capital to invest in technology, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, transport systems, and marketing.
In recent decades, more and more of Mexico’s arable lands have been converted into the food export industry, so that Mexico is having a hard time producing the corn, beans, and cattle which are needed for the feeding of Mexico’s people, especially, the poor people. It is estimated by the World Bank that half of Mexico’s rural children are malnourished.
In other words, Mexico’s people are starving. Is it any wonder, then, that many young Mexican men are emigrating to the United States to find money to support their families back home? Of course, some of them end up in the larger Mexican cities working in the illegal drug and crime industries. Many Latinos, however, emigrate just because of the crime and violence they find at home. Recently, drug dealers have begun to demand half of the salaries of teachers in the public schools in some districts. They make these demands under threat of death.
Police and government corruption is rampant in Central America, even more than in Mexico, if that can be imagined. With all these incentives, we can understand why poor Mexican and Central Americans will do just about anything to escape such terrible circumstances.
My next blog post will specify what I envision as an answer to this problem.
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