George Rebane
So here’s the drill. In our risibly insane land we have the following three factors in some kind of convoluted and crazy collision when it comes to work and making workplaces.
In today’s economy unfilled jobs abound by the millions. Construction jobs not requiring a college education are near the top of the list, and would be an ideal place for young people to get into the workplace and even make an excellent career of it. But our young have been rejecting these opportunities at ever greater rates. Laura Kusisto tells us that “Disinterest in construction work is contributing to a labor shortage that has meant fewer homes built and rising prices—possibly for years to come” in her 31jul18 piece ‘Young People Don’t Want Construction Jobs. That’s a Problem for the Housing Market’. The numbers tell the story – “nationally, the share of young construction workers declined nearly 30% from 2005 through 2016”.
Then we have progressives in urban areas doing all they can to raise minimum wages in their cynical campaign to keep their constituents on the plantation. It has been known for over half-century that raising minimum wages destroys exactly the jobs that allow the young and poor to enter the workforce and/or start climbing out of poverty. But today where in the Trump economy the unemployment rates for minorities are at historical lows, liberal politicians are even invoking the Constitution to provide the fundamental argument for raising minimum wages. Jason Riley of the Manhattan Institute explains the matter in his ‘Does the Constitution Mandate Minimum Wage Hikes?’, as he describes “a misguided court ruling (that) ignores the history of labor laws intended to keep blacks from working.”
And finally, we have to consider the best part of our overall immigration problem. Professor Edward Lazear of Stanford looks at what kind of immigrants benefit America the most and serve our country’s national interests. The answer, he presents with numbers to match, are the young and educated who are standing in line for legal immigration into the US. These are the people who overwhelmingly will fill valuable jobs to keep America competitive, and these are the same future Americans who will start the businesses and enterprises to keep the country prosperous and generate jobs for us natives who are not so prone to undertake the risks of entrepreneurship. In his ‘Send Us Your Young, Your Educated’ Lazear argues that “there is an excess supply of potential immigrants. The US should be smart about whom it chooses.”
But half of our country is either too cynical or lacks understanding of why America should continue to grow and prosper as the world’s font of capitalism and free enterprise. Their progressive narrative calls first and foremost for admitting immigrants who will become reliable leftwing voters and dilute extant American culture on the way to something economically and socially more like the country from which they chose to flee. And the last thing these same socialists wish to promote are public policies that shrink the plantation by enabling more people, especially minorities, to lead lives that don’t depend on regular checks from the government.
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