I’m taking a class on DSLs this semester, and the first assignment was to write some trivial programs in Scheme. Haskell is so much prettier. I mean, just compare (lambda (x) (* x x)) to \x->x*x (the square function).
The Food and Drug Administration regulates drugs wrong. They have a hugely long and expensive testing process which terminates in a simple yes-or-no decision about whether that particular drug can be sold. This delays the use of many life-saving drugs and drives up their prices when they are finally released. There is a better way.
America’s immigration system is also outdated — unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border. It is time for an immigration policy that permits temporary guest workers to fill jobs Americans will not take….
George Bush’s 2005 State of the Union (emphasis mine)
Bush’s anti-worker bias is clear in this proposal for more corporate welfare. The idea that there exist any jobs at all which Americans will not take but Mexicans will, is simply bad economics. The archetypal example of this kind of job is garbage collector. It’s an unpleasant job that gets very little respect from the rest of society. In order to get enough garbage collectors, companies were forced to raise their wages. Let’s get this straight: Americans will do any job you ask them to, as long as you pay them enough.
But this isn’t good enough for Bush. Instead of allowing the market to do its job by paying workers more, he wants to keep labor costs down by importing workers who will be completely at the mercy of their boss. If they’re being mistreated or underpaid, they can’t look for another job. It’s their boss’s whims or back to Mexico. They’re forced to work for as little as their boss wants to pay, and this, in turn, drives down American wages. I’d be fine with easier immigration: new Americans can bargain for higher pay. But George Bush cannot be allowed to import wage-slaves.
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