The Evergreen(card) State

Washington's famously conservative East Side (the area east of the Cascades) is reaping the fruit of campaigns to remove undocumented workers from the state. Recent ICE raids have had a chilling effect on the number of workers in the state for apple picking, and at the end of October signs abounded from Wenatchee to Yakima begging for workers - at $10 an hour. When few were forthcoming, pickers called on prison labor - which cost pickers $22 per hour (after the cost of security, etc.). Sow the wind... .

Force, Manda Bala, and Chile

Aside from the upheaval of moving and changing jobs, I've also been distracted from blogging by some long exchanges on Face Book with "friends" in that medium. In one recent exchange a computer programmer from Iowa informed me that all taxation is forced, but that force is justified for security, like police, jails, and the army, but not for "forced" charity. Enter the protests in Chile.

As students in Chile are agitating for the continued funding of education, that nation is getting a taste of what you get when you don't provide education for your population: chaos in the streets. Right now, Chile is "lucky" to experience that in the form of protests, but if the "reforms" to education in Chile take place that transfer some universities to the private sector and make an education beyond the reach of Chile's poorest, the unrest in the streets will be crime, not protest. Enter Manda Bala.

The 2007 documentary from Jason Kohn portrays the kidnapping industry of Sao Paulo laid on top of the corruption of one of Brazil's most powerful politicians - Jader Barbalho. In this case, Barbalho's preying on the poor by stealing funding for programs has fueled the poverty that drives the poor to prey on the wealthy. The wealthy, in turn, are willing to spend millions on security to keep themselves safe, but not the programs and innovations in society that would keep the kidnappers from preying on the they, the wealthy. What a cycle of life. Enter the United States and that computer programmer from Iowa.

There is yet another reason the United States needs to look south to their neighbors: has the investment in so-called "justified" force changed Brazil? Are the changes laid out by Pinera in Chile going to provide a long-term benefit for the nation? As we slowly privatize our education system in the United States - for that is what we are doing as we cut off funding and force students into usurious deals with the banks - are we going to see more economic freedom, or are we simply going to see the jails swell? Considering how U.S. minorities have been denied access to education and experience disproportionate jailing, I think we do have something to fear - in both the short and long term.

Collective Memory

Historians are guardians of our collective memory - something like keepers of the flame of identity. Why, then, are academic historians so frowned on by society in general? I suppose that our contrarian projects (and nature, at times) makes it look less like we are keeping flames and more like we are peeing on the fire.

(Un)employed In Mexico

It looks like the unemployment rate in Mexico has fallen to just under 5%. Back in July when the numbers started to show the number of Mexicans returning to Mexico was hitting agriculture and construction, the U.S. news media began to take notice. Now the numbers look like they've dipped below 5% - something that could have consequences for both the U.S. and Mexico. Not only might the U.S. begin to see an even sharper rise in food prices due to weather patterns, but that problem might be made worse by labor costs as the cheap labor of undocumented pickers is hard to replace.

For Mexico, it might mean a slow-down in productivity if there aren't enough workers to contribute. It might also mean a hike in prices: Businesses like to see unemployment at around 5% to help keep labor costs down. Mexico has already wrestled with higher food prices over the last few years, can it handle another hike? On the up side (well, maybe), this from the Mexican consul in sacramento:

"It's now easier to buy homes on credit, find a job and access higher education in Mexico," Sacramento's Mexican consul general, Carlos González Gutiérrez, said Wednesday. "We have become a middle-class country." (see more here)

On a down note, sales of port-a-border will fall:

Same Sex With A Different Demographic

It looks like living in the PacNW will provide a lot of fodder for the blog as we gear up once more. This from Oregon and KUOW:

Gay marriage supporters in Oregon are trying to win over support from the
Latino community. They're targeting Spanish speakers in a new radio ad campaign.
The ads mark the first concentrated effort to build support for gay marriage
among the Hispanic community in Oregon.

Jeana Frazzini is executive director of Basic Rights Oregon. She says the
effort comes as the organization considers whether to take a same-sex marriage
initiative to the ballot next year.
"We keep an eye towards the eventual
policy victory that we need to achieve, but through that work seek to change the
hearts and minds of folks broadly in Oregon communities," Frazzini says.

Frazzini says her group has done some polling on the issue among
Hispanics, but she wouldn't release the numbers. Latinos nationally have
historically opposed gay marriage.

It looks like folks in Oregon understand what Californians did not: Latino votes count. Remember, while heaping up a plate-o-hate at the Mormons for their lobbying and $$$ re: Prop 8 in California, it was a large Latino and African American vote that helped put it over the top.

Phew - I'm Back!

Well, I haven't dropped out of the blogosphere - I've just been out and about with students for the last few weeks. I'll also be starting a new job in Washington state in a few weeks ... but I should be back in the saddle full-time shortly.

Back in the USSAr - izona: No Papers For You!

Gestapo-zona, um, Arizona has passed a new law that stops the state from accepting identity cards from foreign consulates. No longer can you use consular IDs to get a drivers license, or even a library card. The Matricula Consular is attacked by supporters of the new law as a sham because the consulate is often not meticulous in verifying the identity of the person that applies for the card. Critics of the law point out that this will leave migrants to Arizona with no ID whatsoever and have the net effect of removing migrants from the legal social system - in other words, they will stop reporting crimes or supporting local law enforcement of anhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify kind.

Interestingly, private businesses are allowed to accept the IDs. So much for the conservative idea of following the lead of business (mostly because business generally only sees the color green).

Boycott Arizona, folks. I've steered my student trip away from Arizona this summer, and I refuse to attend academic conferences in the state. See the hilarious take on the boycott in the Gawker.