Arizona made headlines this week with a new law giving
police officers in the state the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
There had been lots of hype about what the law allows and does not allow, which
is not our primary concern. Boycott Watch is analyzing the boycott calls.
The first boycott calls came from Arizona residents who
claimed they would boycott their own state. That is impossible since you cannot
boycott the state you live in. Boycotts mean refusal to do business with, so
purchasing food, going to work, paying taxes including sales tax, gasoline tax
and income tax makes that boycott technically impossible for a resident of a
state.
The second boycott was from a state representative who wanted
people to boycott his own state. That is rather silly since the elected
official was acting contrary to the needs of his own state, and for that matter
his own job since he should be promoting his own state. While that boycott is
technically possible since he asked people outside of Arizona not to do
business with Arizona, he was essentially telling people to harm him
personally. Boycott Watch believes this is the first masochist boycott.
The third boycott is interesting. Los Angeles city council
member Tony Cardenas (D) is seeking an official boycott of Arizona products in
his city government. Before we can analyze this, we have to get past some of
the hype and dispel some rumors. First, there is no roundup of anyone. Second,
the law does not allow police officers to just ask anyone for identification as
there needs to be a preceding legal event. Third, possession of a valid driver
license is enough to establish legal residency according to the law, therefore
ending further action under the law.
Boycott Watch believes this boycott is dangerous from a
national standpoint. This boycott call means one government entity is telling
another government entity what to do despite the voters and legislators say.
Council member Tony Cardenas feels that is he does not like
what the people of another state want, and will force the will of his states
electorate on another state. Such a boycott can result in vicious state to
state warfare, a concept which can potentially destabilize the fabric which
holds this great nation together. It sets a very dangerous precedent of which
nobody can predict the outcome of. Boycott Watch strongly urges governmental
agencies not to engage in such activities.
From a consumer standpoint, people may choose to not continue
to conduct business with companies in Arizona, but since American consumers do
not think of which state to specifically buy from. American consumers do not
think of American products as being state issues. Political boycotts, which
this falls into the category of, always have counter campaign to purchase
goods, usually equalizing the boycott campaign. In this case, Boycott Watch
believes the Arizona boycott will have some affect on the states economy
related to goods and services. Tourism, however, will be different. Some people
will visit Arizona in support of their law therefore negating the affect of any
tourism boycott.
On the social level, Boycott Watch sees three different
issues. First, we believe that Mexicans will not be the only target of the law.
There are many Israelis, for example, who have overstayed their visas and they
too will face deportation under the new law. Second, many of the people who
will face deportation have real property and will therefore have a difficult
time disposing of if they are not able to tend to their own property in person,
be it a business or household goods. Third and most importantly, many of the
illegal aliens will flee to other states, competing for the same day work as
other illegal aliens.
Boycott Watch believes about half of the illegal aliens will
head to Los Angeles which will further exasperate the California debt with has
already pushed that state past the breaking point because of illegal aliens.
Other border states are concerned that they will end up with the overflow.
Arizona's issues with illegal aliens are therefore a national issue.
All politics aside, the real problem is that the Mexican
economy has failed and the U.S. government, across several administrations,
both Republican and Democrat, has failed to deal with the issues at hand. We
have come to the point where Arizona feels it has been forced to react to
protect itself from a federal problem and now Washington is blaming Arizona.
Federal laws exist to handle the issue, but they are not being enforced. The
result is Americans are starting to boycott each other and that is what has
Boycott Watch worried. The real solution is for the federal government to step
in and crack down on the illegal immigration which is hurting Arizona and other
states.
This is not the first time California has initiated boycotts
because they do not like what the voters say. Boycott Watch reported the San
Francisco boycotts against businesses which supported a law stating marriage
was between one man and one woman, which we called a boycott to intimidate
voters. We see the same thing here, only across state lines which makes it
worse.
Boycott Watch sees this boycott call as the second stage of a
dangerous slippery slope where boycotts are used to intimidate voters and we
are concerned about the damage it can cause to this great nation. America does
not need state to state boycotts, which would be state to state economic
warfare. The last time that happened, Abraham Lincoln was President. . |
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