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Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

fortune.com

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Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#21

Post by kbenson »

trs80 wrote: post #6

Automation can fix this moving forward but ultimately the lost crops are a result of a bad business decision by the farmers to rely on an an undocumented underpaid labor force without thinking there would ever be any repercussions.

> ultimately the lost crops are a result of a bad business decision by the farmers to rely on an an undocumented underpaid labor force without thinking there would ever be any repercussions.

Possibly, but it may also depend on how much the current political climate could have been foreseen. The reality is that it's been the status quo for decades, and there's been clemency for illegal immigrants that grants citizenship in the past.

Ultimately while it ended up being a bad decision, it might have been one that was considered an extremely safe one until everything changed. Sort of like buying a car with the assumption you'll still have a job next year. If you needed a car then it might have been good decision until all of a sudden it really wasn't.

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#22

Post by tptacek »

rgbrenner wrote: post #18

Good. These are some of the worst paying jobs in the country.. because they have used migrants to solve their labor problem, removing the need for them to compete for workers. They need to raise their wages, pay what it really costs for labor. And as a bonus, the increased costs will provide an incentive for future automation.

This an interesting A -> B -> C transition. It was coherent, until the last sentence.

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#24

Post by knz »

rgbrenner wrote: post #18

Good. These are some of the worst paying jobs in the country.. because they have used migrants to solve their labor problem, removing the need for them to compete for workers. They need to raise their wages, pay what it really costs for labor. And as a bonus, the increased costs will provide an incentive for future automation.

I don't entirely disagree but I also suspect that many Americans would be shocked by the cost of food if workers were paid higher wages (especially if it was done for everyone who touches your food as it travels from the farm to the table) and that most farmers would prefer a phased approach to reform so that crops aren't rotting in the fields.

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#26

Post by jayd16 »

trs80 wrote: post #11
bob_theslob646 wrote: post #7

Reminds of what happened in Alabama. Vice did a documentary on it. It was definitely eye opening. The only thing that scares me for this type of labor is the sheer amount of automation being done in farming.( They have these crazy lettuce cutting machines as well as sorting machines.) >Alabama’s Failed Anti-Immigration Law The state's experiment in "self-deportation" reveals what might happen if the US sent 11 millio…

The southern agricultural economy suffered greatly after slavery ended. I think America will adjust to this some how, without starving.

What kind of argument is this? Any policy that doesn't completely destroy America is good policy?

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#27

Post by mieseratte »

stickfigure wrote: post #20
rgbrenner wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they pay near minimum wage for dangerous, temporary, hard work. No sane person with any other options would take that trade

...which should make you think long and hard about what people are being forced back into now that this avenue of work is cut off.

So let's hurt our own citizens for the benefit of other nationalities who are willing to demonstrate their disrespect for our laws, for the benefit of greedy business owners?

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#28

Post by tsomctl »

coliveira wrote: post #23

Crops are not capable of suffering. Another publication that spreads the idea that inanimate things can suffer, while the true suffering is experienced by workers.

Suffer, intransitive verb, definition 2: to sustain loss or damage.

(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffer)

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#29

Post by dmritard96 »

coliveira wrote: post #23

Crops are not capable of suffering. Another publication that spreads the idea that inanimate things can suffer, while the true suffering is experienced by workers.

I pedantic point, but I think crops probably qualify as animate.

Re: Mexicans Afraid of Being in America Create Farm Worker Shortage – Crops Suffer

#30

Post by SAI_Peregrinus »

tptacek wrote: post #22
rgbrenner wrote: post #18

Good. These are some of the worst paying jobs in the country.. because they have used migrants to solve their labor problem, removing the need for them to compete for workers. They need to raise their wages, pay what it really costs for labor. And as a bonus, the increased costs will provide an incentive for future automation.

This an interesting A -> B -> C transition. It was coherent, until the last sentence.

Increased labor costs provide an incentive to reduce labor costs. When labor costs are higher than automation costs, there's an incentive to automate.

If you consider the existence of human labor undesirable then automation is always good.

If you consider jobs the end-goal of human existence then automation is always bad.

In all likelihood you're somewhere in between those, and whether automation is good or not depends on external factors. GP seems to lean more towards the "human labor is bad" side.

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