Just a touch of racism

GA has passed tough immigration laws, with this argument: we have 10 percent unemployment here, let us get rid of the illegal Hispanics and give the work to Americans. As a result, farmers in GA have a tough time finding enough workers this season, there are still 11,000 jobs openings to work in the field.
Unrepentent Governor Nathan Deal now tries to give the jobs to probationers, and it does not seem to work either.
As a result our three local TVs here in Savannah report this with comments like: "Americans do not want to work in the sun for 12 dollars an hour." Of course they say "Americans", but they think "Blacks."
It is a ridiculous statement. It is not that people "do not want to" work in the fields, it is that they do not know how. Work in the field is intensive: you cannot take a bus to go home, you got to stick around the farm to start early, when the temperature has not risen yet. Migrant seasonal workers are used to it, they pack and leave their home for the season. Georgians of any race have lost this capacity: they want a job, but they also want to be at home at night. For Pete's sake, it is not just a "job", it is a different lifestyle. A policy like this can only be successful if you spend a lot of money educating people and encouraging them to become seasonal migrants, and nobody knows if it would work. And I do not think that probationers are especially "lazy", I think that months in jail are not physically and mentally preparing you very well for hard work in the fields.

All this lack of workers means less money for the farmers, loss of foodstuff, more cost for the consumers. Our governor has not thought things through. I am sure he will say that it is the fault of president Obama, his usual scapegoat.
We need immigrants or we don't: it should not be a matter of political ideology, but a matter of good sense. If our farmers need seasonal workers, why don't we give seasonal work permits to the people who can do the work?

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NOTE: Local stats say that about 8% of the white labor force in GA is unemployed compared to 14% of the black labor force. Black labor force is about one third of the total GA labor force (27%). Ga has 150,000 people on probation, about 2 times more blacks than whites.We got in addition 50 to 60,000 inmates, ruining the state finances, a testimony to the quality of our school system.

Survival Skills

This country was built by people who had good survival skills. The skills were transmitted by parents to children at a time when there was no school.
Nowadays the basic skills we need are not so different, though they apply to the city jungle: we still need to learn how to handle a budget, especially if we are poor, and how to find a job, especially if we do not have a job.
A number of jobless people around here, in Savannah GA, have very good working skills, mainly in housing jobs (electricians, plumbers, carpenters who have suffered from the economic downturn), and I am surprised to see how many of them have no survival skills: they do not know how to manage a smaller budget, what is the best time to show up for a job, how to dress for a job interview, when to ask for a letter of recommendation, or even how to manage food stamps.
How come?

Too young, too old, no experience, lacks skills, overskilled?

Unemployment was for most of my life much larger in European countries than in North America. So, here, you had a chance to hear that you were skilled and good to work with, whereas in Europe, finding a job has always been an unpleasant journey.
This unpleasantness is coming to America.
I was too young at 25 and too old at 40. I have been lacking experience, and an instant later I was told I was overskilled. And soon enough, my skills became obsolete. Then I was a "woman" and I was going to get pregnant (it is not legal to say it any more, don't imagine they do not think it any more). And if you are part of a minority, disabled, or just a small size person, your prospect is worse even if that does not have anything to do with the position you apply for. Handling rejection can be tough: you got to think it has nothing to do with you while always trying to get better at obtaining a job: it is a fine line.

I always found work, though. I would say it is because:
1) I am pretty sure I am good at what I do.
2) I am obstinate: I kept trying.
3) I am not picky: a little money is much more than nothing, and a small job away is better than no job here.
4) I have been very lucky.

There was a neat discussion of unemployment numbers in the Curious Capitalist. If you wonder how so many people are unemployed and do not even look for a job, think of it this way: it is like arthritis, one gets used to it, because it is a human skill of survival to get used to bad things. In cases like this, it can be deadly: I have seen friends losing appreciation for how to dress for a job, when to get up for a job, how to talk to the boss and how to look for a job altogether. So it is best to keep trying.