A Day That Will Live in Apathy
By Thomas Lindaman (05/04/06)
There are some days that stick in the collective minds of our society and take on lives of their own. December 7, 1941. September 11, 2001. And now we have May 1, 2006.
Yes, May 1, 2006, called by some as the “Day Without Immigrants.” But I have a better name for it.
Monday.
Kinda makes you wonder if the protest organizers planned it so they could get a three day weekend out of the deal, doesn’t it?
As we look back at the "Day Without Immigrants," one thing should come to mind. It was an unbelievable flop. I'm talking a flop of "Gigli" proportions here, the kind of complete loss where you'll need a LOT of Glade Stick Ups to dampen the stench.
By now, many of you are wondering, "Lindaman, are you mental? Take a look at all the people who came out for the protests!" Yes, that did happen, but sheer volume does not equal success. Just ask any of the late 80s hair metal bands. Just because you can convince a large number of people that it should be okay for people to break our laws doesn't make you right. It does, however, make you a supporter of the United Nations.
The reason the "Day Without Immigrants" should be regarded as a failure is because it accomplished nothing. Some businesses were negatively impacted to the point of being incapable of doing business, but most made due or didn't see any negative impact whatsoever. If the illegals and their pals were trying to convince America that we couldn't live without them, they did a horrible job in doing it. That's because they grossly overestimated their impact on the economy. Estimates state that illegal immigrants make up less than 5% of the workforce right now. That means 95% of the workforce isn't illegal.
What does that tell you? It tells me there are more of us than there are of them, no matter how many people the pro-illegal immigration crowd can pull together. Think George Custer at Little Big Horn.
In reality, the "Day Without Immigrants" wouldn't have a lasting impact on the economy because it would open up employers to hire people to fill the vacancies. Businesses have essential tasks that must be completed for the business to stay open. When there is a labor shortage or stoppage, such as the "Day Without Immigrants," owners will hire people to fill the vacancies because if they don't, the business goes out of business and nobody has a job. That means the employer will be more willing to offer better pay or other perks to attract new workers.
But that didn't happen here. What happened was, simply put, the "Day Without Immigrants" was nothing more than a one-day labor dispute where the people walking out didn't get what they wanted most, didn't accomplish anything of lasting value, and went back to work the next day as though nothing had happened. Well, Pedro, let me clue you in on something: nothing did happen, at least not for you and your buddies.
What did happen was that you tipped your hand and showed the world just how unessential illegal immigrants are. America did okay without you for one day, and I'm guessing we could do it day after day if we had to. But here's the twist.
What if the law-abiding Caucausian Americans decided to have a "Week Without Whitey" where we refused to serve illegal immigrants? That's right. No paying jobs for you. No shops for you to buy food. No way for you to pay for gas. No Welfare. No public schools. They would have to figure out a way to subsist without whites.
How long do you think they could before they would break down and beg for help? I'm predicting two, three days tops.
So, my conservative friends, don't listen to the people on both sides trying to hype the "Day Without Immigrants" into a major event with long-lasting consequences because it wasn't. It was a day that deserves to live in apathy.
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