The Relationship Between The Market and Politics

The market controls nearly every aspect of American life, and while Lockean liberty has successfully created a society of self interest, it is a capitalistic influence in which culture is submerged. Past precedent has made it clear that while the relationship between politics and the economy is continually fluctuating, economic influence in governmental decisions has grown. National public policy strives to avoid another economic debacle, and thus allows for the seeming success of a capitalist market. The existence of illegal aliens is fundamentally wrong, but their permanence in the United States is inevitable. Yet, the national government makes few moves in either assimilation or deportation, instead allowing for an increasing illicit community. Local officials struggle to fill this policy void, aggressively attempting to tackle the immigrant population that seemingly threatens the economic well being of its individual people. While the federal government acts in the interest of the market as a whole, local governments act in the supposed interests of those people whom the immigrants have economically usurped. Thus, the government is stuck in this paradoxical situation, in which it must contrast the well-being of its market economy to that of its individual people. Yet, the passive approach with which the national administration regards the situation continues to exacerbate the issue, and it is necessary for them to move towards an all encompassing policy.

Illegal immigration has flourished over the decades, and especially in the most recent years, Hispanic workers have migrated by the millions into America. Attracted by economic opportunity, their communities have spread beyond the traditional border states and into such places as the Washington Metropolitan area. It is simply not plausible to remove all of these people who are currently residing and working within the nation. The economic aftermath would be disastrous in a culture which has grown to rely on this immigrant population to take over in mass quantities the bottom rungs of nearly every industry. Additionally, the sheer number of people who live amongst this illicit community is overwhelming, thus mass deportation is patently impossible. The federal government as a whole has essentially ignored this problem, leaving specific policies to the hands of local administrations. The cities struggle to enact and enforce laws limiting actions of illegal aliens, but it difficult when it has become so easy to survive undetected in America (Kalita 1). Public backlash has grown with the inevitability of their permanence, and local laws become increasingly discriminatory in attempts to shield neighborhoods from these illegal communities (Miroff 1). Until the national government begins to move towards legislation that will definitively assimilate these preexisting illicit residents, local politics will continue to clash with a rapidly escalating immigrant population.

Approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants reside in America, living amongst what has come to be known as an underground economy (Kalita 1). It is relatively easy to obtain fake documents, and they are generally asked few questions in regards to these forgeries. The Internal Revenue Service even goes as far as offering an individual taxpayer identification number, known as an ITIN to those people who are not eligible for a social security number. Thus the government enters into a perpetual cycle in which " 'someone… working without authorization in this country… is not absolved of tax liability' " according to Internal Revenue Commissioner Mark W. Everson, but continues to be ineligible to obtain legal status (Kalita 3). The significance of this legality becomes increasingly unimportant when an illegal alien can find housing, employment, and schooling with relative ease. Although the federal government officially reprimands the existence of this illicit community, they passively accept its seeming permanence and allow for the creation of backdoors through policies.

Local governments in the same area are retaliating with a series of increasingly anti-immigrant policies, attempting to stem the seemingly ceaseless flow of people into the illicit community. Manassas, a town in Northern Virginia, approved an anti-crowding ordinance which changed the definition of a family in order to tighten its zoning code. Under pressure of a federal investigation into discriminatory housing practices and national civil rights group, it later repealed the law (Miroff 1). As a lifelong resident of the border between Fairfax and Manassas, I can personally attest to the overwhelming presence of an illegal immigrant community. It is impossible to escape the reality of their necessity in an economic sense, as innumerable businesses have come to rely on this bracket as a ceaseless resource. Even if it were possible to promptly remove each and every illegal immigrant, the economic collapse of this society, would take decades to recover. Yet, local policies have little to no power to change the macroeconomics of the nation. Instead, they must focus on the separate interests of its people. Manassas and Culpeper possess a slightly different demographic than that of the more suburban Fairfax, as much of the population depends on blue collar employment. Mayer Pranas A. Rimeikis of Culpeper says that the " '…growth is frustrating. [They] have a lot more traffic than [they] did before. There is overcrowding in the schools and just more people all over the place, and a lot of negative aspects that people notice with growth' " (Miroff 1). Culpeper is on the way to visit my little brother's school, and the subtle racism with which most of Central Virginia is associated has become blatant as the illicit community continues to grow at a rapid rate. Conflicts between the two societies have become a fight in which local officials attempt to pass nationalistic laws that declare English as the town's primary language, while the Latino immigrants assert that the town's economy depends on the Hispanic workers (Miroff 1-2). Although the national GDP grows with this increasing access to cheap labor, local governments would rather provide their own residents with a sense of personal economic well being.

It is important to distinguish between the relationships between the market and politics, and that between individual prosperity and government. Federalism has ensured the removal of the national government from direct responsibility to individual people. While illegal immigration drains employment away from a certain demographic, its overall affect boosts the general economy. The national government emphasizes in its policies the well being of the market as a whole. If capitalistic tendencies tend to stray towards an undemocratic form, federal government objects in passive tones. Local government does not care about the market as a whole, but rather emphasizes the individual. It cannot impact national economy or the influence of capitalism, and is instead meant to push for the personal prosperity of its citizens. If the number of illegal immigrants continues to multiply so rapidly, the rate of unemployment amongst Americans is bound to increase. Even with competitively low prices, the rapid decrease in consumers will have drastic impact on the demand. Federal government cannot simply ignore the ever growing problem because ultimately, these conflicts of interests between the people as individuals and the market as a whole will inevitably impact the overall economy of the entire nation.