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Boycott, schmoycott (why there isn’t going to be any boycott of Arizona)
When L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa and California Senate President Steinberg call for boycotts of Arizona, they don’t tell you one thing: California and L.A. are broke. A boycott raises costs, because lower-cost Arizona producers would be shunned in favor of higher-cost producers elsewhere. Which would make L.A. and California even more broke. So, you can bet that right now the New York Banks are telling these boycotters: “Blab all you want to. Make some small boycott gesture. But do anything serious against Arizona and your credit rating drops even further.” And you can bet Arizona’s politicians are on the horn to the New York Bankers, saying, “By the way, you know we’ve had some credit rating problems ourselves. We don’t want things to get worse. Could you please call California and tell them to cool it with that boycott talk?” That’s how these things work. For reference, see Bob Woodward’s “Agenda,” about Bill Clinton’s first two years in office. Bill wanted to start some expensive new social programs, but America’s credit rating was crashing. So the New York banks told him, “Sorry, you can’t afford it.” Then Bill cursed a lot. – John Seiler
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May 21, 2012
The real flaw in the logic here is that some folks believe that the violence and illegal activity is due to undocumented workers. In reality, violent crime is down in Arizona but the media and the hard-liners in AZ make sure that if an undocumented worker is involved, it’s big news, but the facts are that violent crime has slowed in the last few years in AZ. The law passed isn’t going to stop the real problem which are drug runners and smugglers, It isn’t even going to slow them down.
There was a great article in the LA Times featuring an interview with an ex-Phoenix cop who had to deal with these issues. (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/immigration/la-me-0502-lopezcolumn-20100502%2C0%2C2732982.column)
And he said it very plainly after a white cop was killed: “I told people that it’s not whites or Hispanics who killed Marc,” he said back then. “It’s drug-dealing cop killers. The issue isn’t ethnicity — it’s crime and drugs.”
And this is the real problem with this law is that it doesn’t address the real issue, at all.
“The law passed isn’t going to stop the real problem which are drug runners and smugglers, It isn’t even going to slow them down…”
Hey You is right on target. Nice to have some company on this blog.
Seem to recall a few years back, when Arizona was the only state in the union not to recognize the MLK birthday as a holiday. There was an uproar on that also, including a boycott. As I remember it, Arizona lost a Super Bowl and a number of other conventions and events because of it.
And that was just “passive” racist on Arizona’s part. Some might say this is a lot worse.
Ain’t gonna happen, StevefromSacto. The economy was pretty good in those MLK Day controversy days. Today, everybody’s broke. When you’re deep in hock to the banks, they dictate policy, not you. Democracy goes out the window. Ask Greece.
– John Seiler
We’ll see, John. Corporations–even banks–are often swayed by public opinion. And when even the Phoenix Suns start wearing “Los Suns” on their uniforms in protest, the tide may be turning.