surviving the trip

i'm in my car. and i'm listening to "tell me more" on npr. and they are talking to an anthropologist who has done a study of the "artifacts" left by illegal immigrants from mexico over the course of a number of years. and at the end of the interview, the guy says that the trends in artifacts show that illegal immigrants are more focussed now on surviving the trip than they used to be.

and i don't know why, but this strikes me both funny and sad. i guess earlier ii's were less concerned with the details and more concerned with the prize of a paying job. i guess just figuring that it's enough to just want it. nowadays, they are more savvy. they seem to realize that if they don't pay attention to the details, they are never likely to attain the prize. 1st step- survival.

ain't it so? and ain't it sad kinda?

i don't know why people are so hostile to illegal immigrants. i mean "wth?" it's not really like they are taking the jobs that any of us want in the first place. and as for learning our language, does that matter really? and to whom? as for using our social services, i don't know- isn't the whole idea of social services supposed to be that they are supposed to help people?

i suppose the rub is that they don't pay taxes for those services. well how about we just ask them to? make that a stipulation of their working here? if they make a dollar, have them fork over 5 cents. seriously, how hard would that be? i say, "open the borders and put tollbooths there. as they come in, have them pay a small toll to the troll." hire lots of trolls. that would give americans jobs too, wouldn't it?

have food and water and lodging stations set up. travel plazas of a sort. wouldn't that also create more jobs for americans too?

i think the whole problem is with the undocumentedness of it all. well that seems to me more of a problem with the employers than the employees. why aren't businesses required to document their jobs and who they are hiring to? why not prosecute those guys, if you gotta prosecute someone?

i don't know, i guess, i just can't begrudge anyone the ability to survive and make a living because of an accident of the location of their birth.

i don't know- really- aren't we all just trying to survive the trip, no matter what language we speak? seems like we could just help each other.