This Day in Activism
A Latino woman in our ad department arrived in the office wearing white and packing salsa today. She was not planning on striking, but did want to do something to show solidarity with those who did. The salsa was delicious. Me? I wore a red shirt in honor of May Day. The school district here saw a ton of absences and I heard that tons of businesses were shuttered in San Francisco and closer to the Bay Area. I didn't even bother to check if my favorite Mexican restaurant in town was open.
I'm interested about the political implications of the immigration issue. Some have suggested that it splits the Republican coalition, but it seems to be that this issue sort of splits both of them. My belief is that it worse for the GOP because the current incarnation of the Republican coalition is actually built on Nixon's Southern Strategy (i.e. veiled racism). No one is in favor of people breaking the law. But when you're talking about solving actual problems it's always smarter tailor an approach to how things are rather than how you would like them to be. Anna and I are basically on the same page when it comes to immigration. My belief is that free trade only makes sense when you have the free flow of human beings as well. If nations had to compete for population (and therefore tax dollars and a labor pool) you would see a liberalization of repressive governments, because people could repatriate at will. Uprooting a family is different than uprooting money and investment, but it's the principle of the thing.
I spent the day mostly trying to support the strike by not putting much money into the economy. I ended up spending exactly $4.50, Itemized that was $3 for the toll on the Benicia Bridge, $1 for an aborted attempt to purchase some parking time from the University of California and $.50 after giving up on that and finding a meter. At least it all went to government entities.
Viva la revolution.
I'm interested about the political implications of the immigration issue. Some have suggested that it splits the Republican coalition, but it seems to be that this issue sort of splits both of them. My belief is that it worse for the GOP because the current incarnation of the Republican coalition is actually built on Nixon's Southern Strategy (i.e. veiled racism). No one is in favor of people breaking the law. But when you're talking about solving actual problems it's always smarter tailor an approach to how things are rather than how you would like them to be. Anna and I are basically on the same page when it comes to immigration. My belief is that free trade only makes sense when you have the free flow of human beings as well. If nations had to compete for population (and therefore tax dollars and a labor pool) you would see a liberalization of repressive governments, because people could repatriate at will. Uprooting a family is different than uprooting money and investment, but it's the principle of the thing.
I spent the day mostly trying to support the strike by not putting much money into the economy. I ended up spending exactly $4.50, Itemized that was $3 for the toll on the Benicia Bridge, $1 for an aborted attempt to purchase some parking time from the University of California and $.50 after giving up on that and finding a meter. At least it all went to government entities.
Viva la revolution.
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