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People just have no clue how unlimited immigration destroys blue collar jobs and unions.
Historically, the US has never had unlimited immigration. When the Naturalization Act of 1790 was passed, it was passed by the first Congress where almost 10% of the members were foreign born. Since then, the pendulum on immigration has swung back and forth, but historically, it's never been unlimited.
Immigrants were a vital force in the creation of unions. For example, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, founded in 1900 by Eastern European Jewish immigrants. I'm old, this is history now since its from 1978, but I still remember the song: https://www.google.com/search?q=Inte...-JPCXHQFg,st:0
Historically, the US has never had unlimited immigration. When the Naturalization Act of 1790 was passed, it was passed by the first Congress where almost 10% of the members were foreign born. Since then, the pendulum on immigration has swung back and forth, but historically, it's never been unlimited.
Immigrants were a vital force in the creation of unions. For example, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, founded in 1900 by Eastern European Jewish immigrants. I'm old, this is history now since its from 1978, but I still remember the song: https://www.google.com/search?q=Inte...-JPCXHQFg,st:0
But I think the US had very low immigration in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
henry ford, ford motor company and the sear roebuck catalog
Henry Ford's $5 daily wage is usually mentioned as the start of the modern middle class. IIRC, the intent wasn't to create a middle class but to hold onto newly trained employees so that they wouldn't jump ship to another auto manufacturer with the newly learned skills obtained from the Ford Motor Company. Prior to $5 a day, Ford was hiring 300 people a year to fill the same 100 jobs. The going daily wage at the time was less than $2.50, so doubling a factory worker's wage was an incentive to stay employed at Ford's factories.
But initially the $5 day came with strings. One had to live a good and proper American life in order to earn it, and the Ford Motor Company sent agents of their Social Department into their workers homes to ensure that the working man's family was living up to Henry Ford's ideals - no heavy drinking, no gambling, no renting rooms in one's house, etc. That welfare capitalism effort was discontinued after a few years, but the higher wage (actually, a form of profit-sharing) remained.
As for the Sears Roebuck catalog - that began in the late 1800's as Midwestern farmers were earning a tidy profit growing crops to feed both the eastern US metropolises and, to a lesser extent, Europe. Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, et al, began a commercial revolution to sell manufactured goods via the US Postal Service to those Midwestern farmers; those mail-order catalogs were the Amazon.com of their day. But I'd call the catalogs more an effect of an agrarian middle class, not the cause of it.
The United States, even before it became the United States, had an agrarian middle class once the population reached a critical mass. After the native peoples were 'encouraged' to move, there was plenty land for European immigrants to claim as farming homesteads. Low populations with sufficient and highly fertile acreage to grow crops for export profits led to a culture that in the 1700's led the world in prosperity for the common man...provided that man was white and free.
The modern middle class rose with the culmination of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. However, it did take time for the industrial workers to achieve middle class prosperity, pretty much through unionism.
Henry Ford's $5 daily wage is usually mentioned as the start of the modern middle class. IIRC, the intent wasn't to create a middle class but to hold onto newly trained employees so that they wouldn't jump ship to another auto manufacturer with the newly learned skills obtained from the Ford Motor Company. Prior to $5 a day, Ford was hiring 300 people a year to fill the same 100 jobs. The going daily wage at the time was less than $2.50, so doubling a factory worker's wage was an incentive to stay employed at Ford's factories.
But initially the $5 day came with strings. One had to live a good and proper American life in order to earn it, and the Ford Motor Company sent agents of their Social Department into their workers homes to ensure that the working man's family was living up to Henry Ford's ideals - no heavy drinking, no gambling, no renting rooms in one's house, etc. That welfare capitalism effort was discontinued after a few years, but the higher wage (actually, a form of profit-sharing) remained.
As for the Sears Roebuck catalog - that began in the late 1800's as Midwestern farmers were earning a tidy profit growing crops to feed both the eastern US metropolises and, to a lesser extent, Europe. Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, et al, began a commercial revolution to sell manufactured goods via the US Postal Service to those Midwestern farmers; those mail-order catalogs were the Amazon.com of their day. But I'd call the catalogs more an effect of an agrarian middle class, not the cause of it.
The United States, even before it became the United States, had an agrarian middle class once the population reached a critical mass. After the native peoples were 'encouraged' to move, there was plenty land for European immigrants to claim as farming homesteads. Low populations with sufficient and highly fertile acreage to grow crops for export profits led to a culture that in the 1700's led the world in prosperity for the common man...provided that man was white and free.
The modern middle class rose with the culmination of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. However, it did take time for the industrial workers to achieve middle class prosperity, pretty much through unionism.
What year was it they where only making 5 dollars hour? LOL 5 dollars a hour is nothing today.
What year was it they where only making 5 dollars hour? LOL 5 dollars a hour is nothing today.
Read it again - 5 dollars a day.
In 1914, industrial workers in Detroit were making less than $2.50 a day, for a ten hour work day, or less than 25¢ an hour.
Ford Motor Company offered their trained workers $5.00 a day for an eight hour work day, or 62.5¢ an hour.
In current dollars, that's $155 for 8 hours, or $19.375 an hour. But consider that prior to the $5 a day wage, it was in current dollars less than $77.50 for 10 hours, or less than $7.75 an hour.
What year was it they where only making 5 dollars hour? LOL 5 dollars a hour is nothing today.
Hah!
In 1961, as a high school senior, I started working part time at the Austin library for 68 cents/hour. It provided me with gas & entertainment money all the way through college.
After 4&1/2 years it had increased to a whopping $1.52/hour!
I felt blessed.
After graduating college I started teaching in a public high school at a gross salary of $5,044/year.
My take home pay was $352/month in 1967.
I paid $100/month rent on a 2 bedroom apartment, and $83/month car payment for a new 1967 Chevy Chevelle Malibu.
The wife & I spent no more than $40 monthly on food.
I believe the middle class was created by prosperity and the government policies I have described. You can decide the rest on your own.
I believe the middle class was created in spite of government policies you describe.
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