by Linda Sunkle-Pierucki

Created on: July 29, 2008

Americans can never agree about anything. That's obvious in the loud contention surrounding elections, football games and bar fights. Likewise, Americans aren't looking at the illegal immigration OR the economy with both eyes open. For instance, I daily read claims that our economy is healthy, vibrant, growing. Yet, I have watched my income and retirement funds go downhill for several years now. This holds true for nearly everyone I know. But, of course, I live in Michigan-the rapidly-developing third-world state. And, yes, we do have illegal immigrants here-taking jobs. Michigan's experience is not unique, however, as the decline spreads to other states and even as far as California.

Economists with fancy-sounding titles and impressive bylines will eagerly tell you the economy depends on the stock market-and the markets aren't that bad. I have always contended that the economy in actuality has little to do with the stock market and everything to do with if we have a job and make enough to pay our bills. We don't buy groceries with our stock holdings, or pay our rent or put gas in our car or pay the electric bill. Even though the middle-class now owns stocks in the form of mutual funds and IRA's, the fact remains that these are our savings-not grocery money. Globalization and heavily-managed trade has made big profits for the few-and most of our mutual funds have simply provided liquidity for the wheelings and dealings of the monied classes. The many have not benefitted-and that includes those members of other NAFTA signer-nations who hadn't the stronger resources of the American middle-class.

Already disenfranchised by corruption in all levels of government, the Mexican lower classes have been terribly hurt by NAFTA. They and the long-suffering denizens of several Central and South American nations come here because they feel they have no choice. Little do they realize they are simply another tool of the elite used to increase profits and lower our standard of living. Our way of life will eventually come to resemble the one they left-and far more quickly than most people realize.

Most of the more vocal of proponents of open borders do not see that the "free movement of labor" is yet another part of the plans for a globalized economy. When we are sternly reminded by politicians and paid economists that we cannot stand in the way of the "natural course of events", we are being talked down to by elitists who could care less if we all starve, as long as next quarter's

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