with the jobless rate where it is

[GoredHusker]

Why would they do that when they can get people in here from overseas who have the right education via L1 and H-1B visas?  It is capitalism.  Why pay someone 35 bucks an hour from here when you can get someone with the right qualifications for half that amount?  You're right, it is capitalism.  If U.S. workers want employment, they're going to have to get the right qualifications. 

No one is entitled cheap labor, but no one is entitled a high paying job either.  The jobs are being filled.  They're just not being filled with American workers.  My brother-in-law just lost a farm hand because the farm hand took a job up in North Dakota for the drilling rigs.  Should my brother-in-law pay him the 100+K to keep him?  Of course not. 

I've really got to question the "Pay the price and hire someone away from another business".  Isn't this what we currently have in professional sports?  I'm not exactly sure this is the kind of path we should follow.  This basically leads to zero employee loyalty. 

How is the U.S. ever going to compete in a World economy if we just continually jump the payscale?  We're at a crossroads where we only have two paths to choose from.  We either lock down the border and charge massive tariffs to incoming goods, or we have to compete globally in terms of labor costs.  One of the reasons farm equipment has gotten so large here in the U.S. is because of the cost of labor.  Our farm equipment is significantly larger than what is used in South America because they have cheaper labor.  We've seen what happens to companies when labor and entitlements get out of hand via General Motors.  It's of little coincidence they are now turning a profit considering for the first time they're making and selling more vehicles overseas than here in the U.S.  I know I'd love a raise every year, but as a business owner it just doesn't quite work this way.  Farming is just like any other business.  We all see the ones spending the most money via labor, equipment, land, etc.  They could very well be in for a rude awakening when commodity prices fall.   

[kraft-t]

You always want someone else to settle for less. You don't want a high standard of living for anybody other than the haves. If abusinessman prospers and gain you applaud that but if a worker does well he is overpaid.

How can you be so far out of touch that you can value other people's worth from the outside. The only thing that explains it is that you want to hold people down for some ungodly reason. I want you to prosper. I want the mechanic or the parts man at John deere to prosper. Why have you concluded that so many expect too much and aren't deserving of what they are getting? How in the heck did you get that mindset?

Is labor your enemy? How have they injured  you? You guys spend a hundred times criticizing school teachers policemen firemen common laborers as being over paid as you do criticizing Jamie Dimond or one of those other multi millionaire CEO's that are running their businesses into bankruptcy.

BTW everybody isn't starting. Many have worked for deccades at substandard wages and you want them to "settle" for what you think is adequate. Perhaps $2 is adequate for your beans.

[kraft-t]

After you have comsumated the deal and you hear your neighbor paid less for his? I let you in on a little secret. People don't pay the same amount for products. It happens all the time whether it be cars, trucks, machinery,seed chemicals, fertilizers, fuel. People don't pay the same and I imagine this news will drive you into a complete depression because everyone is getting a better deal than you.

Your just gonna have to deal with it.

[Jim B. in Iowa]

---

@kraft-t wrote:

After you have comsumated the deal and you hear your neighbor paid less for his?

 Now you throw in that caveate. 

DID you have loans written off in the 80's Don?   (you brought it up)

[Jim B. in Iowa]

You seem to think that wages should be set and profits decided later.  People are paid what they are worth...if you have a specific skillset, you get paid more.  If you work a factory line that anyone could do, you get paid less.  Its all supply and demand...you may want to read up on that some time. 

Btw, I SOLD lots of beans for the $4 range when I started farming ...and corn for $1.38.   I didn't start out on top, why do you feel everyone else should?  Even now, I do lots of special things to grow specialty crops and get paid handsome premiums for my extra labor and management.  Its ALL supply and demand. 

[kraft-t]

I don't think they should start out at the top and people should pay what they are worth. However, too many people don't think they are worth much and wages have remained stagnant for 2 decades or more.

In an inflationary society you need wage increases to keep from going backwards and that is what you expect labor to do. 

I can imagine businessmen wanting to determine what their employee is worth. Employees should have the same option. But you as an outsider, what is your interest in their negotiations.? What makes you qualified to decide the worth of anything? And so adament about it?

My interest is in seeing that labor does not get rolled by business and their political influence.

[kraft-t]

I have answered that before but in this case it is none of your **bleep** business. But you are welcome to check court record if you are that damned nosey.

I'm afraid I don't know who you are to check your lifes history.

I think the big difference between us is that I have some compassion for those less fortunate. Your definition of a bankrupt farmer is a crook.

That caveat was in the first post.

[Canuck_2]

---

@BA Deere wrote:

Yes Canuck, having a bachelors degree opens alot of closed doors and over a lifetime of work you will have made $1 million more than someone with a only a high school education...however it`s what someone does with their degree and if they have a degree in something usefull.  Winnebago is full of HS graduates and college grads working on the same line making the same money, with the difference the college grad has to mail in his student loan payment.   Canuck bud you don`t miss a beat, do you?  `graduates from the RELIGIOUS SCHOOL weren`t qualified to be a mechanic`       

---

The key point in what you said is "however it`s what someone does with their degree"

Always comes back to what the individual does and how ambitious they are BUT those with more education can do better than those with little education.

My example of the graduates from the "religious school" (which I noted so no one thought these were public school grads, although I think you will find public school grads who are the same) was to point out the limitations when you lack adequate education.

As my friend noted both of them had the skills and ability to fix cars but were stymied when they had to take the 6 weeks of book learning which occur about every 12 months in the apprentice ship program and the tests required to prove your ability to get a license to be a certified mechanic.

I am familiar with the school since it is just 2.5 kms from us.

The church built it about 25 years ago and put their communities kids in it instead of the public system.

Older members of the community went to public system and one of them is my electrician, got his license through an apprenticeship.

For the kids coming out of the school, at 16 years of age, for the first years they had the public school beginning then they hit a spell with kids from that school only that just did not have a useable education or abilities to do well in a book learning situation.

They may have seen the error of their ways as I know a 18-19 year old girl who is working on correspondence schooling from home with her computer, another 17 year old boy is also working on more education through correspondence.

Perhaps it is just their families who are more enlightened and are providing this for them but they all exit their school at 16 years of age. 16 is the mandatory age that they have to attend school in Ontario.

Since you accentuated the RELIGIOUS SCHOOL point perhaps you could explain why their god only allows school until 16 years old?

Why their god does not allow radios or TV's for them to listen to BUT it is OK for them to have computers and internet in their homes?

Does the bible even mention electricity let alone radios etc?

[Red Steele]

the taxes they support are invariably on someone else.

Some families have four generations of parasites from the same roots....Gramma on the county dole for the nursing home expenses, momma and poppa sucking off as much social security and medicare as possilbe, junior on unemployment, and the unwed granddaughter on food stamps, EIC, WIC, and every other benefit known to mankind.

How do you fight a  voting block like that?