The latest job cuts in every societal sector are just one of the many reasons that Americans, Brits, Canadians and realistically every “developed” country’s citizens have to be frustrated at the moment. People are struggling to pay bills, feed children and ultimately survive; but Protectionists really do need to get a grip.

Nationalist pride is no terrible sentiment, and has previously made possible some of the most spectacular economic recoveries. However, regardless of the fact that in today’s globalized economy it would be almost impossible to “buy -insert country-”, the fact that minorities are being discriminated against more in times of recession is indicative of Protectionism going just a little too far.

Who hasn’t heard an angry US born citizen cursing the Mexicans for, and I quote, “stealing all the jobs”? In fact, this sentiment in itself can be heard on every continent, uttered by any ignorant native of a country with a high migrant population. There is a certain stigma attached to those who come to a country looking for work and find it, whether legally or illegally, as taking something from those who are ‘entitled’ to it, and that is a grave misconception.

Self-entitlement is a grim bastardization of entitlement, which in itself is a highly flawed concept to begin with. What makes anybody entitled to anything? Many say that the fact that one is born in a country is simply enough, but at the risk of pushing meritocracy, how is that more important in a worker than intelligence, ability, willingness to learn, and most importantly willingness to accept less money? If a native citizen is not willing to work in less than desirable conditions for less than ample pay, then they have no right to criticize and discriminate against the person who is, regardless of their heritage.

In North America particularly, the majority of those who would consider themselves as having North American bloodlines actually come from, at some point, migrant workers from Europe. That being said, it is apparently no longer kosher to give people those opportunities that provided prosperity now taken for granted. It seems that in this day and age most people are content with birth right being their main justification, leading to an ever growing problem - laziness.

I am a firm believer in the survival of the fittest, and as a driven individual who does not quite fulfill the WASP criteria, maintain that anything I achieve will be due to my hard work. That, too, can be said of many of the people who are “stealing jobs”: jobs which they are quite frankly more capable of doing and because of that fact, now hold. By allowing foreign professionals to bring their expertise, much of which is acclaimed, to a field it is doubtlessly bettered. This then has a positive effect on our economy, our social standing and general standard of living.

Social benefits (with a few legitimate exceptions, granted) are in place for those who lack the required capacity and motivation to do great things. Should a position be held by a less capable individual simply because the more qualified person was coincidentally born and educated elsewhere? Though the notion may be a tad elitist, I see no reason for the few who made it their goal to pioneer and excel in whichever field they chose to support those who did not consider it their duty to contribute to society.

There are cases of young women in England, leaving school and having children because government housing and allowances are provided to an extent that provides better returns than working for a living. Were such handouts to be abolished, people would think twice about sloth and complacency as a legitimate means of survival, and theoretically, economic productivity would increase.

Protectionist extremists would quite happily close off borders to all foreign influences, but do this and the realization would hit that most countries depend heavily on foreign business and the gains from trade, and soon industry would grind to a halt. It would serve far better to encourage as much competition as possible in order to kick the general population out of its delusional sense of self-entitlement, end complacency and make them productive members of society once and for all.

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