This is exactly a right vs left issue at least on "Baja Nomad" in this thread.
Most people( BN members) from the right, have no idea what's going on in the Mexican farms, or they just don't care, and automatically side with the
employers, which in this case, is the multiple billion dollar agriculture industry, where abuse, and slave wages come from small farm suppliers up the
chain to companies like Berrymex, Driscoll's, and then finally mega stores like Walmart, that sell the final product. The last two companies are US
companies who pretend they don't know what's going but claim they don't tolerate the abuse, and will work with their suppliers to make sure Mexican
farm workers are treated fairly.
So the first thing many of the people from the right do, is push right-wing, tea party solutions, regardless how much they know about this issue,
because right-wing talking points, work in all industries when it involves employers and workers, and this is according to those on the right, the
ultra conservatives.
So they blame the workers, for their plight in life, because they chose this livelihood. They also say, the workers didn't take the time to get
educated or get trained for a better career, and the big one you'll also hear, is the workers didn't pull themselves up by the bootstraps like they
the American conservatives did.
Sometimes, you'll even hear racist attacks, and put downs towards the Mexican workers, because after all they are nothing more than Mexican peasants,
and they are from Mexico, so what do you expect? It's Mexico!
The right-wing solutions, are almost comical, because these Mexicans farm workers, aren't inner city minorities from the barrios in America, where
it's at least plausible to get a semi good education, get financial aid, and go on to college, and a good career, while spending decades paying back
those college loans.
These are very poor Mexicans from southern Mexico where there is almost no hope to move up in class, or pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and
working on Mexican farms, is probably one of the few jobs they can find. And these Mexican workers, work hard, most people can't do backbreaking work
like this. I personally respect the hell out of farm workers, and how hard they work. I could never do that type of work, not even when I was younger.
Just because the Mexican farm workers lack education or other skills, doesn't mean they deserve to be abused, and taken advantage of by brutal bosses
and companies who view the Mexican workers like slaves, that they could abuse anytime they want.
But then the people from the right, with their harden heart, and I don't care attitude, will tell you a personal story, how they pulled themselves up
by the bootstraps, and made it, and don't see why the Mexican can't do it too. It's like clockwork these stories.( this is where I usually roll my
eyes)
I should throw it a JoeJustJoe work story, when I worked at physical jobs at a multinational company when I was going to college, and the US
employer, applied a carrot and stick approach, to get us to work harder and faster, but somehow I never reached the carrot, but got hit with the stick
often.
But I don't like to tell personal stories, or hear personal stories, because I don't believe 90 percent of them, but I mention it, because the farm
employers, are also using the "carrot and stick approach, claiming the farm workers can earn up to $ 9 dollars a hour, if they work really hard. No
human, could work that hard, and that's just PR work to show it's possible for the workers could make more money if they work really hard. The fact is
the average pay of the worker, is probably about $1 dollar a hour, if they are lucky.
Another thing you often see from the right, and sadly sometimes from the left, is these type of strikes, sometimes get violent, either from outside
agitators, sometimes from the employers trying to make the strikers look bad, but sometimes it's from the workers too, with an, " I'm not going to
take this any longer attitude," and so a small minority of the workers get violent or try to destroy property.
And when any type of violence happens, or the protesters block highways, the people from the right, the ultra conservatives, with a few left leaning
liberals, will jump all over that, and claim, "Oh the protesters got violent, they burned buildings, they blocked highways, so I'm not going to
support them, and whatever support they had, they lost it now."Of course the ones from the right, never supported the farm workers in the first place,
and the liberals from the left, aren't looking at the big picture.
The way I look at this, is in the US in the early 1900's to about the mid 50's also got violent, when US workers faced similar working conditions.
You also have the fact that the Mexican farm workers, face brutal work conditions, and living conditions, the Mexican farm workers are treated like
slaves, they earn a slave wage, and the women are sexually harassed and raped!
So if a few Mexican farm workers, get violent, I'm not going to turn my back on them. This is pretty much the history of labor fights, and everything
is stacked against the Mexican farm worker, because the big AG companies grease the palms of the Mexican politicians, who in turn get the police to
crack down on the farm workers, and pretty much force them back to work. |
....and are part of
unsustainable food production...
