With immigration and jobs being the main issues on their minds in this election, Latinos overwhelmingly voted Democratic to elect Obama for yet another term.
As regards immigration, the choice was meager at best. Romney’s rhetoric has been hardline and uncompromising, holding out no hope of amnesty. With Obama’s Deferred Action decree, and his promise that “Immigration Reform” will again be a top priority in his second term in office, Latinos were swayed to the Democrats. This happened despite his having deported more immigrants than his Republican predecessor and his failure to deliver on the promise of comprehensive immigration reform during his first term in office. Job security has become a top issue for all workers, and yet, neither Republicans nor Democrats have a plan to solve the problem of jobs, and all workers, regardless of gender or color are looking for answers. As the economy worsens, and jobs disappear, they are not getting straight answers, least of all from the main political parties.
The reality is the economy is based on less and less workers’ labor, due to technological advances in the production of goods. This is an era where capitalism is trying to survive by removing all the last standing obstacles to maximize profits, laying off workers and replacing them with industrial machinery run by computers. No employer is going to buy workers’ labor power when a machine will do the job cheaper and with no complaints.
With capitalism, having no job means poverty and starvation. Furthermore, the corporate-run government has made it clear that there will be no more safety net.
What can the workers do? Currently, 23.7 million Latinos are able to vote, and it is estimated that by 2050, Latinos will be 132 million and represent 30% percent of the population. The Latino vote counts. However, Latinos and the entire laboring class of Americans must make it count for their class interest.
This election is over. But the issues of jobs and immigration reform have not gone away. Disillusioned, some workers broke with the Democratic Party in this past election, and some couldn’t. One thing is clear, there’s a fight brewing over a real political alternative to represent worker’s interests, a third political party.
This doesn’t happen automatically. Latinos and all workers need to fight for it and to continue raising class consciousness to distinguish friend from foe. One of our readers, put it very succinctly, “We have a future to guard and not simply hand it over to legislators who think they can decide whether or not I get to have a better future for myself and future generations.”
The Tribuno del Pueblo couldn’t agree more.
