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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (216542)	2/10/2013 9:36:05 AM
From: Steve Lokness	Respond to of 542131

<<<< “When I saw that the Mexicans begin to dominate the business,” she said, “I learned how they collected and started doing the opposite.“>>>> Kind of shoots down the argument that illegal immigrants do these jobs because no one else will.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (216542)	2/10/2013 12:21:22 PM
From: Bread Upon The Water	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542131

What's the amount of dole in NZ and how long does it last?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (216542)	2/10/2013 10:30:06 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542131

"...everyone is vastly better off" Maurice, your post is insightful but if you peel another layer off the onions of human nature and societies I think you'll find the problem. With respect to human nature, we have an innate sense that compels us to compete well or lose our sense of self worth. As I've pointed out several times, the book "King Rat" illustrates this point well. Being one of the most "successful" among those living in dire straits conveys a greater sense of well being than being among one of the least "successful" of those living in relative luxury. You've lived long enough to recognize that for those who have enough to survive, this is true. With respect to societies, if there is too wide of a gap between many "have-nots" versus those who are more wealthy then rifts widen and the "riff raff" will get a little fractious and refuse to "eat cake." Relative wealth and "income" equality are, therefor, often more key to individual satisfaction and societal harmony than absolute wealth. This does not rebut your point that machines and other efficiencies provide for a better life for most of us and, in fact, if we could spread that new wealth among the many there would be much to be thankful for. Where, however, as exists today, the wealth is moving upward and the jobs are leaving, the seams of our society are stretching. This is an especially troublesome problem when so many believe that the problem lies with "lazy, leaching, takers" versus a rapidly changing society that is obsoleting the many low level workers who were so critical to our economy over the last century. .