Dirty Words? GLOBAL OUTSOURCING - Also, is the world flat ?

[me&thegals]

The flattening of the world has everything to do with capitalism, not gov't., unless you bring in trade rules, which we already have. It is not giving to those less fortunate. It is simply understanding that they may be just as, or more, qualified for my job and have the technology to do my job in a different country. Therefore "my" job is not necessarily "mine" and not necessarily done in America.

I don't think this is an argument about if it should happen. It already is. I think this is just a discussion on how we feel about it now that it is.

 

[Nifty]

taking from those who succeed to shore up those who don't try isn't the way to go.

I think that's the warning I see from Tom Friedman and others. That the US has a lot of people who have "succeeded" by way of inheritance (meaning being lucky enough to be born in a country with a LOT of opportunity) but that in places like India, there are millions of people that are working 24/7 on becoming smarter and better workers.

The US population needs to avoid complacency in our success and lifestyle... we need to work hard and work smart. I heard that the average American child watches 4 hours of TV a day. Back in February CNN reported 151 hours a month that's 5 hours a DAY!


I'm simply saying that if other countries have harder working and smarter workers entering the job market, they will "take our jobs" regardless of the amounts they are paid.

Of course, this comes into a problem with work / life balance. Corporations exist to make money and have an obligation to stockholders to make a profit (how much is going to be determined by the stockholders requirements). At the end of the day we all vote for what we want by where we work, what we buy, and what we invest in. The problem is that most individuals in 1st world countries are looking out for their own best interests on a day to day basis, which means: where can I find the cheapest products, which investments are going to make me the largest ROI, and what companies will pay me the most.

 

[Big Daddy]

A good chunk of the jobs that have been out sourced are redundant labor intensive jobs that don't require much education. Some jobs that have been outsourced to India require more education. It's not really a matter of how hard you work to become better educated. It's all a matter of bottom line profit. What can a computer programmer in America do better or harder to save his job from a computer programmer in India that feels 8000.00 a year is living like a king? The only thing he can do is find some niche market that nobody else has explored and hope to make some money until that market gets overfilled. The tax and tariff laws in this country need to be changed to encourage companies to stay here and use American labor. If it doesn't happen soon the middle class will go away.

 

[me&thegals]

If people don't want to see jobs go overseas, then they need to buy from companies that are American employed. Probably be willing to pay a higher price for things, too. But, we generally want the very cheapest thing we can buy, not thinking too much about WHY it is so cheap.

 

[Big Daddy]

If people don't want to see jobs go overseas, then they need to buy from companies that are American employed. Probably be willing to pay a higher price for things, too. But, we generally want the very cheapest thing we can buy, not thinking too much about WHY it is so cheap.

I agree, problem is that there's not much made here anymore. I went to that made in America website and it's mostly just specialized gadgets. About the only thing left is big box stores. Most of them sell stuff made in foreign countries. Your small stores are all specialized and usually sell foreign made stuff at higher prices. We need to bring the jobs back through higher tariffs and stop giving tax incentives to corporations for moving overseas. Right now they produce overseas and pay nothing to the US govt, then they get tax credits for tax paid to the country they produce in. No tariffs since they are an American company. What kind of screwy system is that?

 

[On Our own]

A good chunk of the jobs that have been out sourced are redundant labor intensive jobs that don't require much education. Some jobs that have been outsourced to India require more education. It's not really a matter of how hard you work to become better educated. It's all a matter of bottom line profit. What can a computer programmer in America do better or harder to save his job from a computer programmer in India that feels 8000.00 a year is living like a king? The only thing he can do is find some niche market that nobody else has explored and hope to make some money until that market gets overfilled. The tax and tariff laws in this country need to be changed to encourage companies to stay here and use American labor. If it doesn't happen soon the middle class will go away.

The middle class already went away. The income gap between those at the top and those at the bottom is SO huge that there is no middle anymore. You can ask people who make 30 thou a year what class they are and they say middle class. When asked what class he was Jay Leno, 30 million a year, said middle class!

Those at the top of this country who believed the precept that a purely free market would benefit everyone (apply to any scale you wish, they certainly did) were wrong. It is not possible for people to live as Americans do without some one else doing without. The problem is: now the Chinese and the Indians expect to live as Americans do. The Europeans already live as we do. Who becomes the serf when all the world is king?

 

[Aidenbaby]

Here, here Big Daddy. I totally agree with everything that you said. It scares me that our country doesn't make ANYTHING. I'm tired of these large corporations getting getting tax credits, write-offs and bailouts and then sending more American jobs away.

 

[farmerlor]

One HUGE problem we have here is that most people who go to college so they can get those jobs that pay more money and help them succeed in life start out in life with a huge college loan payment strapped to their back. They can't afford to take a job that pays less if they want to pay back those college loans. Other countries where education is free don't have those millstones around their necks. They can afford to find a job they enjoy. And then there's the fact that other countries are turning out better educated people too but we'll go into that some other day.

 

[Nifty]

Sorry, I didn't link to the video in this post : http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...qAO959yVCQ&q=charlie+rose+world+is+flat&hl=en

As I mentoned before: Watch it from point 45:25 - 48:17 (especially at 47:13)

Two great points:

1) A flat world isn't a zero sum game
2) Prepare your children with rich education