BlogWonks

Sometimes its VERY educational to put two articles together and read one after the other. Especially when the first one, refutes a major assertion in the second one.

the key paragraph to keep in mind when reading the second article is:

Immigrants may interpret their lower social standing as caused by racism and discrimination. Many natives in turn may interpret the low employment rates of foreigners as a sign of their sloth. That’s an explosive mix of misperceptions and social failings.

Welfare Wean
By NIMA SANANDAJI
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In the Western world, Sweden is often considered a Social Democratic paradise, the irrefutable proof that the welfare state can transform society for the better. But outsiders, and still too many Swedes, tend to overestimate the gains and underestimate the costs of social engineering.

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In the 1950s and 1960s, the integration of migrants worked quite well. The foreign-born had a 20% higher employment rate than native Swedes in 1950. Half a century later, in the mature welfare state, the picture has dramatically changed. According to the latest figures, only 48% of non-Western immigrants are gainfully employed, which is 30 percentage points below the average. For this group, originating from places such as Turkey, Chile, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and North Africa, welfare dependency is nine times higher than for native Swedes.

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No doubt, a generous welfare system initially helps many immigrant families, cushioning the transition to a new country. However, the combination of high taxes, a regulated labor market, the world’s highest union-imposed minimum wages and the lavish transfer programs effectively keeps out immigrants from the labor market.

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Sweden’s powerful unions and the left-leaning intellectual elites work against such reforms. Swedish voters, though, are beginning to have mixed feelings. In 2006, they ousted the Social-Democratic government and elected a center-right coalition that promised to cut taxes and benefits. Labor-market reforms, though, were missing from their election campaign.

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High unemployment among immigrants is of course not confined to just Sweden or Scandinavia. Throughout Europe, governments have found that well-intentioned social insurance policies can lead to lasting welfare dependence, especially among immigrants. Belgium is the European country with the highest difference in employment rates between the foreign-born and natives. The images of burning cars in the suburbs of Paris that were broadcast around the world illustrate the kind of social and economic problems France is facing with its restive immigrant population.

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Given the high barriers to entry, many immigrants in Europe no longer start accumulating essential language and labor market skills. This is in stark contrast with the situation across the Atlantic. For example, in 2000, Iranians in the U.S. had a family income that was 42% above the U.S. average. The income of Iranian immigrants in Sweden, however, was 39% below the country’s average.

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Please see link for rest of article.

Note all the politically correct rhetoric shown to be false above, and shown to do EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE STATED INTENTIONS OF THE POLICY ARE.

Now carefully, note these things when you read below what the ‘problem’ is and what the ’solution’ is.

MORE WELFARE!!!

Equality law could bar white men from jobs

White men could be legally blocked from getting jobs under new anti-discrimination laws being considered by Labour.

Employers would be able to give jobs to women or ethnic minority candidates in preference to other applicants, under the plans unveiled by equalities minister Harriet Harman.

If two candidates were equally qualified for a position, employers would be able to reject the white person or the man in favour of a black person or a woman.

But the plans are due to be criticized by business leaders and last night, even equalities campaigners expressed doubt.

Miss Harman - known as Harriet Harperson for her politically correct views - wants to look at how to bring U.S.-style “positive action” to Britain, saying it is vital to ensure the workforce more accurately reflects the demographic make-up of the population.

She says too many women and people from ethnic minorities are being held back because they cannot break through the “glass ceiling”.

[according to the findings in the article above, they cant do it because they are being helped. but if we leave them alone, they do better than the native population! - artfldgr]

The new laws would only come into play where two equally qualified candidates had applied for the same post, allowing the employer to tip the balance in favour of minority candidates.

[And function creep will take them completely to the end. -artfldgr]

Businesses would not be compelled to favour the female or black candidate but the law would be changed to ensure they could not be sued for turning down a white man.

The proposals would also allow universities to select more female students in male-dominated subjects such as science.

But equal rights campaigners said the new rules would have a limited effect, and that action should be targeted on equal pay.

Katherine Rake of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns on equal pay, said: “How you would really hold that up in a court of law is not clear and, if it isn’t, employers may be reluctant to use it.
“You are probably talking about a handful of cases.”

The present law says employers are allowed to say they welcome applications from minority candidates, and they are allowed to promote jobs to specific groups.

Theresa May, Conservative spokesperson for women, said: “One of the real problems facing women today is the gender pay gap.

“If Harriet Harman really wants to help women in the work place she should strengthen the existing laws on equal pay. We have recently put forward proposals to do just that and our proposals would have a real impact on women’s lives.”

A spokesman for Harriet Harman said: “This is under discussion but no decisions have yet been made.”
The changes would be included in the new equalities Bill, which will also give new rights to mothers to breast-feed in public. Golf clubs would have to give female players equal access.

Miss Harman also wants to force companies to conduct “pay audits”, reviewing staff salaries to ensure they are not underpaying women.

But she is facing opposition from within the Cabinet on this from ministers who are worried about antagonising business yet further.

Last year Miss Harman called for all-black shortlists in constituencies with high ethnic-minority populations.
She said that unless action was taken, it would take decades for the make-up of the Commons to accurately reflect the make-up of British society.

But the plan immediately came under attack from ethnic minority MPs on the Labour backbenchers - saying black people should be selected on merit.

Here we have a clear example that their policies are harmful to the people they are pretending to promote.

Dispromotion, by promotion of a social good assumed