British workers haven’t been losing out to foreign labour and are unlikely to see job prospects dramatically improve because of Brexit immigration cuts, according to a survey of UK companies.
Well of course they haven't. Xenophobia is just so much nonsense. Foreigners, by that "reasoning", are universally (because every country is suspicious of every other country) either :
- a) A bunch of highly educated professionals that none of us lot can possibly compete with, coming over 'ere to steal our jobs because they're just so much better than us; or equally, devoted, hard-working labourers who will work 24/7 for practically peanuts in appalling conditions, forcing the good native worker to accept poorer standards and lower wages despite very clear minimum wage laws; i.e. again, they're just better workers than we are
- b) Good-for-nothing layabouts who just want to steal our benefits like the lazy parasites that they are, which is rather strikingly at odds with possibility (a).
Blair has said that there should be more curbs on migration and freedom of movement. No. If it were up to me, I'd open the borders completely, save for passport and criminal record checks. Let everyone work wherever the hell they like in whatever job they can get, so long as they follow the laws of the country and the the regulations of their employer. Give everyone equal benefits from day one, regardless of their permanent residence, whether they're sending money home or supporting a family who live elsewhere. No exceptions.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/brexit-latest-news-uk-workers-foriegn-labour-eu-nationals-survey-immigration-cuts-tory-ukip-a7944191.html
Honestly, I'd love to know how you get from, "Rhys doesn't like xenophobia and even thinks border controls are a bad idea" (the latter I happily admit is an extreme position) to, "Rhys dismisses all Brexit concerns as being nonsense".
ReplyDeleteBut if you won't answer that straightforward question then please answer this one : do you really think I'm faking honesty and/or empathy ?
OK. But let me make this very clear : I use hyperbole for comic effect, but that aside, I do not fake emotions without explicitly saying so. Ever. I can't easily let that go, because the idea that I would try and manipulate people I find deeply offensive, on the same level as if I were being accused of racism. I don't posture and I don't play to the gallery. I don't have time for that.
ReplyDeleteAFAIK your original argument seems to have taken a single data point and made a wild, crazy, incomprehensible extrapolation. I have to tell you that from my perspective you're being "that guy from the internet" (http://dilbert.com/strip/2015-06-07). I'm giving you a pass on this one for the sake of benefit of the doubt, but I don't take kindly to people arbitrarily deciding that I think something entirely contrary to what I actually think when I've spent bloody months explaining my positions very clearly and in plain simple language. Capiche ?
"Be more empathetic" would ring oh so much less hollow if your opening statement hadn't called me a posturing douche. There is an unbearable asymmetry coming from certain quarters that demands the right to be obnoxious while insisting that opponents behave like saints. And I've lost all patience for that.
ReplyDeleteYour statement that globalisation is a problem was expressed entirely rationally. Why not take your own advice and start with that next time instead of the personal insults, hmm ? I happen to disagree, but you seem to have leapt to the assumption that because I decided to express my views robustly I just deserved to be insulted instead. You didn't even try to give benefit of the doubt, to see if I would have engaged meaningfully.
But I would have. My arguments against Brexiteers are expressed strongly because the only thing I ever hear from them are not meaningful things like, "I'm worried for my job" or "the EU is (in some way) causing me hardship" - instead I hear, "we've got to crack down on immigration" (without justification; see original article) and "the EU is taking all our money and sovereignty" (which is simply false). The "only" is important. These arguments deserve to be attacked; that does not preclude the possibility of sensible debate on sensible issues. But this is sentiment I've expressed many, many times. You're really not paying as close attention as you think you are.