Cognitive Dissonance

As I drove up and down the Interstate 5 a week ago on my trip to San Mateo I could not help but notice that practically every large Corporate Ag Farm I passed bore a Trump Vance sign. These were festooned with a liberal helping of Democrats are the party of evil signs and Newsom, stop wasting our Dam Water.

If you have driven into the Central Valley on either the 5 or 99 in recent years, you know exactly what I am talking about. Can't miss them.

And as I was driving and watching the workers in the fields, I had the thought; the principal current evil for the GOP are illegals. How many of these workers had papers? If we have a mass deportation, just who in the heck do these giant agri-farmers think will pick their fruit and hoe their vegetables? It doesn't make sense, seems quite counter intuitive in fact.

I saw this site today, 31 facts about California Farmworkers and it shored up my line of thinking.  Although the link is new, the data seems to be about twelve years old but I doubt much has changed, in fact, it has probably become worse. I'll give you the first seven facts, if you want more you can visit the link yourself.

1. California farm workers help produce over 350 commodities; including 1/3 of the nation’s vegetables and nearly 2/3 of the nation’s fruits and nuts. 
2. California produces 90% of the strawberries grown in the U.S.
3. Between 1/3 and 1/2 of all farmworkers in America reside in California, or roughly 500,000 – 800,000 farmworkers.
4. Approximately 75% of California’s farmworkers are undocumented.
5. National Labor Relations Laws (NLRA) do not apply to farmworkers.
6. Farmworkers are exempt from many Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) protections, including most minimum wage and hour guarantees, overtime pay, and mandatory breaks for rest and meals.
7. Most farmworkers are excluded from federal minimum wage laws and other labor protections, including overtime pay for working more than 40 hours per week.

 So California has nearly half of all the farmworkers in America, approximately 75% are undocumented and the farmers want to kick them all out? Doesn't make a lot of sense. To me anyway. But by all means, do it, let's see what happens. I can't wait to see how you get your crops picked.

Be careful what you wish for, Central Valley.