If the businesses were given more say in that instance they definitely would have allowed for more immigration so they could have a larger work force. A lot of the jobs that the immigrants take are undesirable jobs to most people. Another reason why businesses would be pro immigration is that they are able to bring the cost of labor down in general. If they have a group of people willing to work for significantly less money than most Americans others will have to accept a lower pay to keep their jobs in a competitive market. This again helps the business owners to make their businesses more profitable and keeps costs down. Business owners use their leverage in the community to pressure politicians to create and carry out the immigration policies they need to make sure that their businesses continue to be successful.
Business owners have a vested interest in immigration policies because they need people to ensure that their business is able to run smoothly and effectively and the less they can pay their workers the more money they are able to pocket. Immigrants, whether they are legal or illegal, are generally willing to accept a lower pay rate because it is more than they would make in their home country. This is especially true for illegal immigrants. They are more willing to take the lower pay because they do not have many other options for work especially since they do not have the proper paperwork that is required for most jobs. It is in the best interest of certain businesses to make sure immigration policies are lax so that they can have plenty of cheap labor. This helps to keep prices of their products down as well. We talked about this in class when we saw the photos of the pear farmer in California. When the immigration laws were tightened she had a difficult time finding labor to help harvest the pear crop and ended up losing billions of dollars due to spoiled fruit.
I knew that business was one of the main determining factors that shape immigration policies. Politicians work towards re-election. That is always their primary goal. The only way to be re-elected is to stay in the favor of their voters or constituencies. Businesses and business owners have a lot of say in communities and are able to effectively get policies implemented. The politicians want to keep the business owners happy so that they continue to support them in their next elections. Business owners usually have a stronger tie to the community and the people in it than the politicians do because they are there all the time and more accessible to the public.
If I worked for a company and a friend of mine asked me to get their child a job and I knew that the child was irresponsible and untrustworthy I would not help them get a job because it may jeopardize my position. To me, nepotism is not a bunch of under qualified people getting a leg up in a company or corporation, it is deserving individuals using all of the resources available to them to acquire a position. Therefore, I would never turn down a job offer because I knew that my connections helped me to get the job because I know it is most likely not the connection alone that got me the job. They may have helped get my application to the top of the pile but that does not in my mind guarantee me a position.
I do not necessarily view nepotism as a bad thing. When you make connections with people you generally get to know them pretty well. People are not going to go out of their way to get someone a job they barely know. Getting to know someone involves learning about their personality and work ethic and developing a sort of trust with the person. It is good to know and trust the people you work with or recommend. Not many people are willing to put their name on the line and recommend someone for a position that they believe are not qualified or that would not be a good fit for the company because it would make them look bad and possible sever some of the connections they themselves worked hard to make.
If I was presented with an opportunity to have a job, internship, or even just an interview with a company based solely on a connection I had within the company I would absolutely take it, no questions asked. The economy is so bad and the job market is so competitive that I would use and am using every resource available to me to find a job. I may not be the most qualified person for the job but I would not be the least qualified either. I work very hard, and no, I may not be the most deserving person but I would not slack off just because I know someone within the company. I believe that nepotism only really becomes a problem when a company starts to be negatively affected by it. If the people that get the jobs based on connections slack off and do not do their part the companies may not be as successful as they could be if they were to go out and actively search for qualified persons for the job. However, I feel as though people would be smart enough to fire those who are not contributing members of a team, no matter how they got the job or who they are connected with within the company.
Being Catholic I also had issues with the idea that conflict in the Middle East was driven by religion and that we are the “Christian Invaders”. Just because some people in the military have strong ties to their religion and chose to read the Bible and pray does not mean they are over there fighting for God. That really irritated me. I understand that Sam was trying to get us to see things from a Muslim perspective but they way he presented his ideas made me feel like we better think that way too. I like being able to form my own opinions on things and to me it felt like the lecture was saying think this way, this is how you should be thinking. I tried to be open minded during the lecture but I continuously felt so offended and so uncomfortable by the things being said that I really struggled with the open mindedness. By the end of the lecture I was ready to get out of there. To me it was not even close to the best lecture of the year. It was a very uncomfortable hour for me.
I did not like the comparisons between the U.S. military and combatants in the Middle East. I understand that he was trying to get us to see how people in the Middle East view American soldiers but it made me really uncomfortable. I know the videos were meant to make us understand how people in the Middle East feel about Americans and see why they have so much anger toward us in certain situations but they just made me upset. My boyfriend is in the U.S. Navy and to see people in our military be portrayed in that way really upset me. They have to leave their families for months at a time to defend our country. It is just really hard for me to look at it from a Muslim perspective.
I do not believe that it was the best lecture of the year. There were so many emails hyping the lecture up and to me it just did not meet my expectations. I think it is hard to be blown away by a lecture when someone talks it up so much. There was a lot of buildup and I walked away disappointed. Being honest I had a difficult time with the lecture. I felt as though Sam was trying to force his opinions on us. As soon as he started talking about scenario where the Chinese came to America and began taking our coal I knew he was going to tie it in to the Middle East. The whole lecture was so predictable to me. I do not want to be closed minded and I really tried to listen and take everything Sam was saying in but I just had a really hard time with it.
The only time I would say I get uncomfortable around people speaking different languages is when they appear to be talking about me or someone I am with. Everyone has encountered someone talking about them in their life whether it was in English or another language. It’s uncomfortable when you see people pointing and talking when you don’t know what they are saying. This is true for any language. If the people are out of earshot and they are pointing and talking it would make a lot of people uncomfortable I’m sure. It makes you wonder what the people are saying which can make you uncomfortable. Other than that I’ve never really had any issues with people around me speaking in other languages.
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