(no subject)
Jan. 30th, 2009 05:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriquehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/30/brown-british-jobs-workers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7859968.stm
OK, so "British jobs for British workers".
I think the worlds of the great philosopher 'Jean Luc Picard' best expresses my reaction to this:
I mean, seriously. When did racism sneak in the door and become 'ok' again? It looks like someone's parroting the BNP manifesto or something.
I mean, that's even before you get to the inherent stupidity of assuming that jobs are a finite quantity, and that 'johhny foreigner' is stealing _yours_. More jobs means more cash circulating, which means yet more jobs.
But here's where the problem kicks in - it's far easier to blame 'someone
else' for stealing a job, than it is to face up to the reality - companies aren't stupid, they'll employ based on what does them most good as a company. The guys who've been motivated enough to travel overseas to work for a living, are generally also the ones who are more motivated than the average dole dodger. They're probably also working harder for less pay than the average "British worker".
Cultural diversity is a good thing. We don't _want_ to be a minimum wage, manual labour economy. It's the influx of new ideas, cultures and the attracting of motivated people, that stimulate the kind of economy and society that we.... well I want to live in. I accept there's people out there who'd much rather hate on people for having oddly coloured skin, and abuse the staff of the restaurant they're in, because they don't do chips to go with their curry.
But frankly, that's the kind of person that we _are_ better off without.
If 'foreigners' are stealing your jobs, then stop for a moment and ask why? Why is a company going to the effort of recruiting in another part of the world to do the same job you could. Maybe, just maybe, it's because of _your_ failings.
I have seen it in action, and can very definitely tell you that it's very
rarely the polish people at work that are the ones that will be slacking off,
being sloppy on timekeeping, and generally being slapdash about the job they do.
So seriously. Let's lose this nonsense, and actually go on with doing
something more constructive about whining about the unfairness of the world.
Yes, it's unfair, now what are you going to do about it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7859968.stm
OK, so "British jobs for British workers".
I think the worlds of the great philosopher 'Jean Luc Picard' best expresses my reaction to this:
I mean, seriously. When did racism sneak in the door and become 'ok' again? It looks like someone's parroting the BNP manifesto or something.
I mean, that's even before you get to the inherent stupidity of assuming that jobs are a finite quantity, and that 'johhny foreigner' is stealing _yours_. More jobs means more cash circulating, which means yet more jobs.
But here's where the problem kicks in - it's far easier to blame 'someone
else' for stealing a job, than it is to face up to the reality - companies aren't stupid, they'll employ based on what does them most good as a company. The guys who've been motivated enough to travel overseas to work for a living, are generally also the ones who are more motivated than the average dole dodger. They're probably also working harder for less pay than the average "British worker".
Cultural diversity is a good thing. We don't _want_ to be a minimum wage, manual labour economy. It's the influx of new ideas, cultures and the attracting of motivated people, that stimulate the kind of economy and society that we.... well I want to live in. I accept there's people out there who'd much rather hate on people for having oddly coloured skin, and abuse the staff of the restaurant they're in, because they don't do chips to go with their curry.
But frankly, that's the kind of person that we _are_ better off without.
If 'foreigners' are stealing your jobs, then stop for a moment and ask why? Why is a company going to the effort of recruiting in another part of the world to do the same job you could. Maybe, just maybe, it's because of _your_ failings.
I have seen it in action, and can very definitely tell you that it's very
rarely the polish people at work that are the ones that will be slacking off,
being sloppy on timekeeping, and generally being slapdash about the job they do.
So seriously. Let's lose this nonsense, and actually go on with doing
something more constructive about whining about the unfairness of the world.
Yes, it's unfair, now what are you going to do about it?
no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 11:58 pm (UTC)However, I can see some of the reasons for the reactions that they are. They're not good reactions, but they are understandable, sometimes.
Take my old home town, Hereford. Small city that's really a large town, in the Midlands. For as long as I remember, there's never been any racisim there, but one of the reasons for that is that there were very few immigrants, and relatively few non-caucasians – there's little to draw people to Hereford rather than anywhere else.
But from what I've seen on the few visits back I've made is that there's now the beginnings of resentment, as there's now a fair number of Polish people who've recently moved to there.
And yes, there are plenty of sensible reasons why the Eastern Europeans are good at getting jobs. But those reasons won't easily convince someone who has seen the last four jobs he applied to go to someone who's recently moved to the country.
Yes, that person needs to be educated as to why it's happening, and to keep on trying for the job. But you'll have more success at doing so if you take the time to look at it from these peoples' point of view, understand their concerns, and then try to guide them away from racisim.