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User	onetruesmartass | 2006-12-28 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I know a lot of people who say "I won’t even get out of bed for less than (insert dollar amount here)" Once I had seen a news report where a reporter went to the homeless people that were holding signs saying "work for food". He offered small odd jobs to each for the next day and only one showed up. When the reporter found the other man he’d offered work to, the man told him he couldn’t just work for anyone. That attitude isn’t uncommon or unusal in this country. Lets honestly think about this, Americans on the whole are lazy. We develop amazing technology, then use it to make our lives easier. We have remotes for just about everything so we don’t have to get off the couch to watch tv, listen to music, or start a fireplace. We mass produce and prepackage our food, or stay in our cars and drive to places to get food someone else cooks for us. We sit on our asses all day long in front of computers to do our work, shopping, bill management and have things such as movies and cd’s sent to us, God forbid we actually have to go pick one up at the store. Everything in this country has to be bigger, better, faster, cooler. You don’t have an LCD tv? Don’t have the latest version of highspeed? Don’t have a Yves St. Laurent purse? Don’t drive some monster of a car that costs more than the average house? Well, why not? We don’t even want to put out effort for our own health! How many commercials have you seen touting the newest, most amazing diet pill on the market? All you have to do is pop a pill and sit on your ass. Work done! I’m not saying this is the attitude shared by all Americans. But enough of us that it’s easy for illegals to come here and do the jobs that some Americans just won’t do. I’m not saying I’m above it. Hell, I work at video store that adds to the whole mess. I’m pandering to it just as much as anyone. If we as a country really want to stop the flood of illegals coming here, taking jobs, living off of our tax money, then we need to stop looking down our noses at things that are supposedly beneath us and start doing what needs to be done. But until we stop the commercialized thinking, it will never happen. *onetruesmartass*

User	Blue Monk | 2006-12-28 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Just listen to the music coming out the back of the van at the construction site. Even a blind man can tell who’s on the job (and who’s not). And yes, they have managed to undercut prices such that it’s hard to compete on a bid. And how about that crew on the US highway construction project? I know enough to tell that’s not German they’re speaking. I’ve recommended that both my girls take Spanish, for obvious reasons.

User	joeyalphabet | 2006-12-28 |
Subject	untitled
Message	The immigration issue isn’t as simple as people would like it to be. Immigrants are taking jobs like construction, for example, that used to be held by Amercans.

User	Blue Monk | 2006-12-28 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Plus, it doesn’t make much sense to work if you can get paid more not to. That’s not lazy, that’s a no-brainer.

User	Chell | 2006-12-27 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I hate hearing the phrase, "jobs Americans won’t do". I don’t know anyone that wouldn’t work digging ditches, shoveling gravel, tarring roofs, or sloughing through the sewers if the pay was right. I’d pick berries every year at harvest time if it paid a decent wage, but I can’t live on $2.50 an hour- it won’t cover the day-care needed for my children. It won’t cover the gas I use to get to the fields. There are a thousand jobs American’s CAN’T survive on, and those are the same jobs American’s aren’t applying for.

User	onetruesmartass | 2006-12-27 |
Subject	untitled
Message	At the same time, Bm, there are alot of low end construction jobs (ditch digging, tar scraping, etc) that Americans won’t do and illegals will. I was watching Dateline last night and a construction foreman was saying he feels he doesn’t have a choice but to hire illegals because Americans won’t even apply for the jobs. Now, I’m sure his dilema was slightly exaggerated for the cameras, but it’s something I’ve heard and seen before. Then again, there are alot of pretty foul people out there that will exploit these people for their own monetary gain. Greed causes so many hardships and it’s damn near impossible to fight. *onetruesmartass*

User	Blue Monk | 2006-12-27 |
Subject	untitled
Message	There are definite problems, fed by greed in many cases. I was once in the employ of a "sweat-shop" mentality business owner who had once actually operated one. I found in him a lot of selfishness to the point of actually costing himself an even bigger fortune because he could not stand the idea of sharing anything and he kept renegotiating deals in his favor after they were underway. Sorry, I at least expect my share and when it’s not forthcoming, I walk. By the way, he apparently had one of those mental conditions whereby he swore uncontrollably when he lost his temper. If you see that in a person, it’s probably because he knows he’s in the wrong and has no other way to express himself at that point. I recommend not associating with this type at all.

User	joeyalphabet | 2006-12-27 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I’m not some wide-eyed kid, Monk. I’ve been part of the corporate culture for two decades now. And yes, I understand; I have mouths to feed too. That doesn’t, however, make it right. I buy clothes at Wal-Mart made in China, probably by some woman who also has mouths to feed but only makes 1-2 dollars a day. I fill up at the gas station and pollute the air with my ‘90 Taurus. So there is a certain degree of culpability on my part. But the corporations that use us and others need to realize that it’s time to come into the 21st century. There’s no longer any reason to exploit people and it’s also in their best interest not to. We can’t keep up the kind of profit growth Wall St. has come to expect without killing our species off. It’s time to change and the push needs to come from the people at the bottom. We had a revolution at the end of the 19th century that gave workers rights to decent hours and wages. Now we need a new workers’ revolution for fairness. (When I say that I mean a movement to have workers start holding companies accountable, not some street revolution with guns.) And OTSA, the immigration problem is only going to get worse because these corporations don’t care a whit whether you get a job or not. Consequently they do nothing to discourage illegal immigration. As long as we don’t educate people properly, as long as companies are willing to ship tens of thousands of skilled jobs overseas, as long as they are willing to hire a worker who will take 2-3 dollars less per hour and not demand benefits, they’ll continue to do it.

User	onetruesmartass | 2006-12-27 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I’m having a very difficult time right now with the debates going on in regards to the overwhelming illegal population and what it’s doing to our country. I myself am college educated, have a decent work history and relatively good credit. It took me six months to find a job, and when I did, it’s at Hollywood Video. (don’t laugh, it pays the bills and it’s a job I really enjoy) Some say the reason good, honest, hardworking Americans can’t find work is because of the illegal immigrants. I don’t know, I would say it would be more on the shoulders of those who own the companies and are willing to under pay illegals rather than hire a natural born at what is considered an "living wage". If the illegals weren’t getting work, they wouldn’t be coming here. At the same time, I completely understand the desperation and survival need that drives these people to us. Neither side of my family came to this country until after 1935 and 1950. Of course, they did so legally, but that’s not the point. If my children were living somewhere that there was no electricity, plumbing, and for some of the families, no walls or roof, I would get out too and do what needed to be done to make sure my children were safe. True, if they worked on their own country instead of doing construction on ours it would be better, but again, not the point. So I just don’t know where I sit on this. I think immigrants should do come here and go thru the process legally, but at the same time, I undertand the mindset of trying to survive. *onetruesmartass*

User	Blue Monk | 2006-12-26 |
Subject	untitled
Message	What "y’all" say about the elite running things is true, but the fact is that I’ve never had the opportunity to work for a poor man. While I am self employed, all my clients are either corporations or relatively wealthy people and I can’t afford to begrudge them their ability to pay me for my services. I have mouths to feed and bills to pay. I am therefore happy to be "exploited", as are most reasonable people who are employed as opposed to not being employed. Unless you are a slave, if you don’t like your situation you can "fire your bosses", quit and find something better to do. I’ve cleaned toliets, flipped burgers and held a number of other "demeaning" jobs, but that’s sometimes a necessary beginning, not the ultimate goal. This sounds to me too much like a bunch of "liberal thinking" academics who already have excellent job security or a bunch of students who haven’t yet received their baptism into the cold cruel world of everyday economics.

User	joeyalphabet | 2006-12-26 |
Subject	untitled
Message	The finger should be pointed squarely at the multi-national corporations who think nothing of exploiting people in the U.S. and all over the world.

User	vohomegirl | 2006-12-25 |
Subject	untitled
Message	You’re speaking of the increasing gap between the rich & working poor in this country, correct? That has many factors not just immigration: globalization & demand for cheap labour, economic recession, inflation & the fact that minimum wages haven’t increased to a significant degree over the past 10 years thus keeping people gridlocked in a dead-end system. Not to mention ignorance being one of the greatest contributers to poverty. It’s so easy to point the finger.

User	joeyalphabet | 2006-12-25 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Problem is BRT, you’re preaching to the chior. I know that the elite run this country. They seek to divide us so they can rule us, using petty issues like immigration (would you or I really want to clean toilets for $5/hr?).But the immigration issue isn’t one--it’s just the latest wave. Will it change the country? Of course it will, but all the others did too. That’s what’s so great about America. We can absorb those changes far better than any other country in the world It’s not the people dividing us, it’s the politicians looking to control us by using our fear.

User	Blue Monk | 2006-12-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	You have a very perceptive group at work here. You are encouraged to place such ideas into an even broader spectrum whenever you have the chance. It might get others thinking.

User	dismentled | 2006-12-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Wow, ok; someone takes themselves a little too seriousily. "never take life too seriousily, you’ll never make it out alive" Save the world, huh? Isn’t that what everyone wants, to be able to say they saved the world? But, is it really worth saving? You can’t save those who don’t want to be saved. Now adays, death is what inthralls the most of us. Suicides are at an all time high(and not just cause it’s the holidays) You’ve millions of people seeking refuge in drugs, alcohol, and ciggarettes, all of which anyone can tell you aren’t exactly good for ones’ health. In a hundred years from now, will either of what was said, done, or lack there of really matter? Who’s to say? Who’s to say we’ll still even be here. Our country has plenty of problems it has to deal with, and as long as we focus our energy on gay marriage, and things of that sort instead of bigger issues we’re gonna be fucked. The people are loosing faith in their country, and it’s when you loose faith insomething(especially something that matterd/matters so much) that the greatest problems arise. If you look throughout history, the last thing every big empire did before it’s fall, was incorporate a draft. It’s when people no longer feel abliged to fight for the land they live in, that we start to crumble from the inside out. Oh, and dude ever hear of masterbation? Fuck, I feel your pain; it’s been 2 years for me; but that’s mostly by choice. I actaully am cute, smart, funny, and talented. Anyways if you need to fuck that bad, just pay for it, or masterbate; in the end you’ll be much happier.

User	Chell | 2006-12-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	America is polarizing at a much greater pace due to the flood of illegal immigrants through the Mexicon border. The immigrants work at lower wages than necessary for the lowest respectable level of living in the United States. They thus force the current workforce of the country (largely of downtrodden origins themselves) to ultimately triple in size while attributing for an insignificantly larger share of the national wealth. The bulk of the economic increase ends up in the hands of the leaching contractors, thereby further polarizing an already over-polarized society. Societies polarized beyond the will of the numerous lower-class are doomed for internal war. You poor man. Sounds like you really need to get laid. Blue balls have a tendency to muddle anyone’s brain- look at Bush, Chaney, Rumsfield, need I continue? I am terrified about where this country is headed. The border isn’t the only issue facing the American worker. Our jobs are being exported faster than our militarily enforced democracy. I don’t think I have seen a doctor with an American place of birth for about 10 years. We have companies who can refuse employment because you’re credit rating says your broke. (What the Fuck? Don’t people get jobs because they’re broke?) You can be an alcoholic and get a job, but smoke one joint... Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” And we are hitting critical mass. We’re not just polarized over the reasons our jobs are disappearing. We’re fracturing over rights- abortion, gay marriage, the use of certain expressive words, the right to end our lives if they’ve become living hells, the right to respectfully express our dissatisfaction with our leaders, who the ACLU is really working for, and whether Bush dealt coke in college. It seems that once we conquered the battle to survive, we began killing each other. After we mastered the use of animal hip bones, we began looking for new ways to kill each other. Unfortunately, you’ll probably have better success convincing an attractive woman that you’re not crazy, and that you are a laid back, caring, protective, and confident person than attempting to save the world. But, hey, if enough of us start talking, and acting, and voting, things just might improve. Isaac Asimov said, “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.” We live in interesting times…

User	Black Rock Tractor | 2006-12-23 |
Subject	untitled
Message	great guys. thanks a whole fucking lot. the future will tell. and i dont take drugs. i was drunk off my ass when i made this post, but im sober now and i still stand by it. of course, its really naive of me to attempt the birth of a substantial, meaningful debate around here. or anywhere for that matter. everyone is so caught up in their own daily rituals that they cant even see the gears and the heading of the world around them. i suppose my time would be better spent convincing an attractive woman that im not crazy, and that i am laid back, and that im very caring, protective, confident rather than careless, and a talented fuck to boot. but then, id really rather save the world than to make an attempt at enjoying being a casual participant. too bad i have no charm and everyone finds me to be terribly insufferable within a few years of knowing me. to answer your next thought, yes, i badly need a woman whose brains i can fuck out on a regular basis while accepting and understanding that i cant help but be the asshole that i am in spite of my own best attempts to be likable. i still have a dick and two balls. and they hate my fucking brain. its a real internal conflict.

User	dismentled | 2006-12-23 |
Subject	untitled
Message	dude, who’s your suplier? I need to get me some of that shyt!

User	joeyalphabet | 2006-12-23 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Are the drugs you’re taking good, BRT?