Is Mexico a parasite on the USA?

[Stark]

Mexican migrant workers sent more money to their home country ($6.3 BILLION in first half of 2003) than either foreign investors or tourists this year, according to central bank figures released this week.

par·a·site ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pr-st)
n.
Biology. An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.
One who lives off and flatters the rich; a sycophant.
A professional dinner guest, especially in ancient Greece.

sym·bi·o·sis ( P ) Pronunciation Key (smb-ss, -b-)
n. pl. sym·bi·o·ses (-sz)
Biology. A close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member.
A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

Obviously this has some link to the trend out here in California to provide free schooling, healthcare and legal identification to non-legal mexican workers. Demexicans claim that these illegal workers are a vital part of our economy... but are they? If they send $6 Billion dollars back to Mexico, aren't they simply draining our economy?

Discuss (w/poll)

 

[MacBaine]

They do the jobs you would never do. I garauntee, even if you were out of work, you wouldn't even think about doing some of the jobs they do for the pay they make.

Edit: I voted symbiotic.

 

[PatboyX]

If they send $6 Billion dollars back to Mexico, aren't they simply draining our economy?

Discuss (w/poll)

not really. they are a lot of people in mexico looking to come up so a large portion of that money may be filtering back in. regardless, though, that is a strain on the economy...but there are much easier and better places to start looking for cutbacks than somehow curtailing the already-in immigrant population.

 

[ElFenix]

$6 Billion that doesn't come back is a loan that doesn't require being repaid.

 

[shiner]

The Mexican people are great.

The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

 

[Mucho]

That question coming from someone who use the flag as his avatar I would say racist.

 

[alexruiz]

OP, you need a lobotomy!

Our people WORK!!!! A parasite doesn't!! Stop watching too much TV
Maybe you have parasites in your brain..... wait, they would die of starvation.....

You forgot to add also the option "OP is an idiot for asking this stupid question"

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: shinerburke
The Mexican people are great.

The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

 

[alexruiz]

Originally posted by: shinerburke


The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

show how.....

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Mucho
That question coming from someone who use the flag as his avatar I would say racist.

I apologize for being a racist as well. That flag avatar gives me away every time.

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: alexruiz

Originally posted by: shinerburke


The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

show how.....

Two words.....extreme corruption.

 

[dullard]

Hard working people come in and do the jobs that no American would touch - but jobs that must be done for America to stay competitive. That doesn't sound like a parasite to me. Ex: Imagine the cost of food if they weren't willing to do the farm work/slaughterhouse work for minimum wage. Anyone (Mexican or otherwise) that is willing to come here and help our businesses like that benefits America as a whole.

Put it this way. I'm from Nebraska. The unemployment rate is usually near 2% (far less than the US average). That means there aren't enough workers to do the farm jobs. The farmers would go bankrupt and America's food security would depend on foreign countries if we can't keep our farms operating. So what to do? Yep we send busload after busload down to Texas to pick up as many Mexican workers as possible. They come happily and work hard on our farms. They do it for low wages which is great for the farmers (meaning less goverment aid is needed). Those people may send money home to help move their family here. But how does that hurt America? I can see many ways how it helps.

 

[waylman]

Can you update the poll please? There needs to be an option for:

"Anyone who asks this question is a moronic flag waving american"

 

[alexruiz]

Originally posted by: shinerburke

Originally posted by: alexruiz

Originally posted by: shinerburke


The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

show how.....

Two words.....extreme corruption.

Ahh, the infamous "corruption myth"... Yes, we have corruption, not denial here. However, it is nowhere as bad as the popular myth......

Don't believe me??? Then, answer if you have you faced it yourself.....

But I still don't see how "extreme corruption" could make my goverment a giant pimple in the ass of your goverment..... in fact, it should make it closer.......

 

[freebee]

The first generation workers may be hard-working, dedicated individuals....but all too often their kids often turn into lives of crime, gangs, etc. There are complex social and economic forces here...and its a complicated matter to address fully.

(oh and to keep things in perspective....we spend 1 billion A DAY to keep troops in Iraq...6 billion is nothing.)

 

[xochi]

Originally posted by: shinerburke

Originally posted by: alexruiz

Originally posted by: shinerburke


The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

show how.....

Two words.....extreme corruption.

ROTFLMAO

corruption doesnt exist in the US, only other places

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: alexruiz

Originally posted by: shinerburke

Originally posted by: alexruiz

Originally posted by: shinerburke


The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

show how.....

Two words.....extreme corruption.

Ahh, the infamous "corruption myth"... Yes, we have corruption, not denial here. However, it is nowhere as bad as the popular myth......

Don't believe me??? Then, answer if you have you faced it yourself.....

But I still don't see how "extreme corruption" could make my goverment a giant pimple in the ass of your goverment..... in fact, it should make it closer.......

Never faced it myself, but I have a good friend who's family moved up here a few years ago. His father served in the Mexican Govt., no I don't know his position, and he is always talking about the kickbacks he was offered, the payoffs that occurred for this that and the other thing, the amount of money that changed hands just so someone would turn a blind eye to something or give them something they shouldn't have, etc, etc, etc.....he gave up and left a good job because he was fed up with the corruption.

Now, that is second hand info but it does go along with everything I have ever read or heard about corruption in the Mexican Govt. Mexico has no reason in the world to be a Third World country, they only reason they are is because of the people that have been running/ruining Mexico from the very beginning.

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: xochi

Originally posted by: shinerburke

Originally posted by: alexruiz

Originally posted by: shinerburke


The Mexican Government is nothing but a giant pimple on the ass of the USA.

show how.....

Two words.....extreme corruption.

ROTFLMAO

corruption doesnt exist in the US, only other places

Didn't say that.

Read some history about Mexico. The only thing keeping Mexico down is the Mexican Govt.

 

[Stark]

Originally posted by: alexruiz
OP, you need a lobotomy!

Our people WORK!!!! A parasite doesn't!! Stop watching too much TV
Maybe you have parasites in your brain..... wait, they would die of starvation.....

You forgot to add also the option "OP is an idiot for asking this stupid question"

US workers most productive in the world

a parasite works to support itself and (and sometimes its offspring) with no benefit to the host organism.

So you're saing the US benefits from the work that mexican immigrants do even if they send the profits they earn out of the country.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: dullard
Hard working people come in and do the jobs that no American would touch - but jobs that must be done for America to stay competitive. That doesn't sound like a parasite to me. Ex: Imagine the cost of food if they weren't willing to do the farm work/slaughterhouse work for minimum wage. Anyone (Mexican or otherwise) that is willing to come here and help our businesses like that benefits America as a whole.

Put it this way. I'm from Nebraska. The unemployment rate is usually near 2% (far less than the US average). That means there aren't enough workers to do the farm jobs. The farmers would go bankrupt and America's food security would depend on foreign countries if we can't keep our farms operating. So what to do? Yep we send busload after busload down to Texas to pick up as many Mexican workers as possible. They come happily and work hard on our farms. They do it for low wages which is great for the farmers (meaning less goverment aid is needed). Those people may send money home to help move their family here. But how does that hurt America? I can see many ways how it helps.

I can agree that mexicans are just about the hardest working people out there. But don't you think they should have to pay taxes also? That is my only gripe with mexicans coming into this country.

KK

 

[Stark]

Originally posted by: dullard
Hard working people come in and do the jobs that no American would touch - but jobs that must be done for America to stay competitive. That doesn't sound like a parasite to me. Ex: Imagine the cost of food if they weren't willing to do the farm work/slaughterhouse work for minimum wage. Anyone (Mexican or otherwise) that is willing to come here and help our businesses like that benefits America as a whole.

Put it this way. I'm from Nebraska. The unemployment rate is usually near 2% (far less than the US average). That means there aren't enough workers to do the farm jobs. The farmers would go bankrupt and America's food security would depend on foreign countries if we can't keep our farms operating. So what to do? Yep we send busload after busload down to Texas to pick up as many Mexican workers as possible. They come happily and work hard on our farms. They do it for low wages which is great for the farmers (meaning less goverment aid is needed). Those people may send money home to help move their family here. But how does that hurt America? I can see many ways how it helps.

Interesting points.
By doing this, isn't the US simply exploiting (cheap) mexican labor? Should farmers be allowed to bypass the federal minimum wage standard? Isn't that throwing the whole free-enterprise, supply and demand, capitalist ecomomic principle out the window (if you can't run a business legally, you shouldn't be in business)?

As for the slaughterhouse jobs, those used to be reasonably well paying union jobs. Now they're run by big (republican supporting and supported) agri-business who care less about human lives than they do about profits (see: Fast Food Nation).

If we really do need Mexican workers to keep our farms productive, why is there no legitimate, legal way to let them work? Is the work they do worth paying for their healthcare/education and giving them permanent residency in the US?

 

[Witling]

Mexicans have a saying, "Mexico is too far from God and too close to the United States.

 

[xochi]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: dullard
Hard working people come in and do the jobs that no American would touch - but jobs that must be done for America to stay competitive. That doesn't sound like a parasite to me. Ex: Imagine the cost of food if they weren't willing to do the farm work/slaughterhouse work for minimum wage. Anyone (Mexican or otherwise) that is willing to come here and help our businesses like that benefits America as a whole.

Put it this way. I'm from Nebraska. The unemployment rate is usually near 2% (far less than the US average). That means there aren't enough workers to do the farm jobs. The farmers would go bankrupt and America's food security would depend on foreign countries if we can't keep our farms operating. So what to do? Yep we send busload after busload down to Texas to pick up as many Mexican workers as possible. They come happily and work hard on our farms. They do it for low wages which is great for the farmers (meaning less goverment aid is needed). Those people may send money home to help move their family here. But how does that hurt America? I can see many ways how it helps.

I can agree that mexicans are just about the hardest working people out there. But don't you think they should have to pay taxes also? That is my only gripe with mexicans coming into this country.

KK

i would say that most of them do.

if they have a fake SS# registered with their work, then they pay federal taxes and dont even get a refund.
if they live in an apartment, then they pay school and county taxes built into their rent
if they buy goods and services then they pay city and state sales taxes

all in the way you think about it.

the other day i posted this in another thread.

If you want to see what a city will look like that has a majority of Hispanics,(mostly mexicans) look no further than San Antonio Texas.

57% Hispanic
33% White
7% Black

A great city. clean, prosperous, conservative with a great Basket Ball Team and a large supply of hot gals.

 

[DurocShark]

Most Mexicans that don't come to the US would be happier away from us. Heck, most of the immigrants would rather be home in Mexico than here. But they come here for the dollars that are difficult to come by in Mexico.

Corruption exists there in a very blatant way. Whether it's worse than our special interest groups, I dunno. I know that Mexico's gvt needs to keep working on its way of dealing with private enterprise. They keep too tight a hold of companies that can't afford heavy, er, lobbying. I had to deal with a couple of companies in Mexico City. The people are amazing, but the amount of crap they have to put up with is even more amazing.

Again, I have absolutely NO problem with Mexican immigrants. I have problems with ILLEGAL immigration. There's a huge difference.

 

[alexruiz]

Originally posted by: shinerburke


Never faced it myself, but I have a good friend who's family moved up here a few years ago. His father served in the Mexican Govt., no I don't know his position, and he is always talking about the kickbacks he was offered, the payoffs that occurred for this that and the other thing, the amount of money that changed hands just so someone would turn a blind eye to something or give them something they shouldn't have, etc, etc, etc.....he gave up and left a good job because he was fed up with the corruption.

Now, that is second hand info but it does go along with everything I have ever read or heard about corruption in the Mexican Govt. Mexico has no reason in the world to be a Third World country, they only reason they are is because of the people that have been running/ruining Mexico from the very beginning.

I don't like a lot of nested quotes, so I left only the last post.

Sir, thanks for the objective response. You are admitting that you didn't face it yourself, and you are being honest. This person lived it, and got fed up of it.... the inmense majority of the people here don't like the corruption, but in some cases you have to use the little bribe to seepd thing up. As a comment, the corruption that you can see is more at low level, as going higher it gets less visible (I am sure they are more discreet about it) However, this makes us no different than any country, with the exception that the low profile employees can go impune here while losing their job in your country (the big fish are the same anywhere.....) However I still don't see how the corruption makes us "a pimple in the ass"...... as I said, it should makes us buddies....

Now regading being a third world country, ther is more than the eye can see...... Our country started is misery when we got independent, as all the richness was depleted by those fvcking spaniards..... not to mention a few invasions from other countries that either took money or stole land (*couhg* *cough* 1847) The country started in debt and it is still in debt. The country has been target of foreign ambitions more than once....
Getting into the modern trade age, a lot of borders are closed to our products because of stupid reasons.... (avocado embargo, cement just to mention a few.....) The same people that parrot the "free trade" are the ones closing the borders when the competetive edge is not theirs.... Despite this issues, we have the 12th largest economy in the globe (I have repeated it until I got tired), our income per capita is the highest among developing countries and our education system is among the best in the third world (my undergrad college belongs to a national system of institutes of technology.... the plans are based on the European system, often regarded as tougher and more complete than the USA's..... ) There is a nasty combination of factors, so don't make the mistake of oversimplifying. We shouldn't be third world, that is correct, but blaming everything in our politicians is oversimplifying.....

Your life will be hell here if you have no skills or preparation, but life will be good if you have something in your favor (side comment: my wife is American, from the state of Michigan, from a middle class family. She attended one of the best school districts in her state. I took her to live here with me, and I don't think she feels she is living a bad life....... yes, she misses a lot of things, but I also miss a lot of things when I am in assignment up the border.....just different styles of life if you belong to the middle class....)

We have problems, but we know it and we are not blind to them.....

As a side comment, one of my uncles was a congressman, a ver honest politician (maybe too honest). He was always commenting about how people always complained about corruption, but most of them fueled it by offering bribes in the first place..... He is right!