The outsourcing of America’s jobs

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_1137.shtml

FinalCall.coom) - Indentured servitude and slavery provided an essentially free labor force. As a result of the freedom and worker movements, these systems were eventually upgraded to wage slavery. Under this system, workers were paid minimal wages and worked long hours to acquire the bare essentials. Workers were forced to agree to labor to acquire various levels of food, lodging, education, health and transportation. The business owners reluctantly underwrote these essentials, primarily as a result of labor’s organized demand.

The emergence of powerful—sometimes corrupt unions—led to higher wages and benefits and forged out the American middle class. The middle class reaped rewards that soon allowed them to distance themselves from the underclass. However, as a result of the rising cost of American labor power-brokering, American companies organized to develop counter strategies. The fifth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference was held in Cancun, Mexico September 10-14, 2003. Like past meetings, it was widely protested by individuals and international organizations around the world.

In opposition to the WTO, the International Forum on Globalization states: "The World Trade Organization is among the most powerful, and one of the most secretive international bodies on earth. It is rapidly assuming the role of global government, as 134 nation-states, including the U.S., have ceded to its vast authority and powers. The WTO represents the rules-based regime of the policy of economic globalization. The central operating principal of the WTO is that commercial interests should supersede all others. Any obstacles in the path of operations and expansion of global business enterprise must be subordinated. In practice these "obstacles" are usually policies or rights, social justice, local culture, and national sovereignty."

Today, consistent with economic globalization policies, corporate America is either importing less-costly immigrant labor or shipping jobs out of America and into underdeveloped countries, where profits can be maximized. Jobs are being taken out of the U.S., while President Bush is busy telling Americans that they will see more jobs.

<snip>

[Maple]

1. Perhaps if you skipped

the misinformation and outright propaganda in here, you'd understand the situation better.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. What's this? Kill the messenger day? I didn't write this.

I just post the pieces I find that might be of interest to the Left side of the world.

Peace, Maple.

[Dirk39]

3. Sounds like an affirmation of protectionism to me....

"The middle class reaped rewards that soon allowed them to distance themselves from the underclass."

"corporate America is either importing less-costly immigrant labor or shipping jobs out of America"

"The emergence of powerful—sometimes corrupt unions—led to higher wages and benefits and forged out the American middle class."

Don't get me wrong, but this sounds to me as refering to the fear of the US middle-class, much more than facing globalization.
As a german leftwinger, I even wonder, why someone like Michael Moore defends protectionism, and he's not the only american progressive who's doing this. As if it would be possible or make sense, to get that jobs back to the USA or Europe or Japan.
During the next decades, only about 20% of the people, who work now, are needed to let capitalism grow further and higher the profits of the global players. 80% of the people working now, will be entertained with "tittytainment" - this term was introduced in a cynical way by the chief of Hewlett Packard in 1996 - or underpayed fake-jobs, to kee p them from protesting.

The most dangerous people on earth are middle-class people, who are afraid to lose their position (study Nazigermany), people, who never had much to lose are much more of a hope (look at Venezuela).

I think, we have to completely turn Globalization around, we have to globalize Democrazy and social justice, not to go back to Nationalism and protectionism.
There's more, much more than enough for everyone on this earth, and we are exploited, incapacitated and destroyed by the same "global players".
No single national government can act against them anymore, and most of our governments did become their slaves without any resistance.

My enemy are not any immigrant workers or workers in "underdeveloped" countries. At least I share my enemies with them.

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[ramapo]

8. The question is how to develop the "underdeveloped" countries

The current situation has China, India, etc. growing their economies based in large part on business from the "developed" world (mostly U.S.). They have not developed an internal economy as I would argue we did in the U.S. over the past 100 years.

U.S. corporations have now found a great way to improve the bottom line with cheap foreign labor and overall much lower cost of manufacturing (no pesky regulations). We have benefitted greatly the past 30-40 years from this cheap manufacturing labor. Look at electronics especially. Now though we will pay a price because we have exported so much knowledge that we have lost exclusivity on much of what has made the U.S. the leader in so many fields.

We will see ourselves beaten at our own game by the corporations that we created.

The economies of India and China, etc. are being jumpstarted at our expense. There is NO STOPPING IT. Protectionism is not an option. Hold on because the world is changing.

The people of India and China, et. al. will benefit because they will grow much stronger economically. We are not used to such competition.

This would all be great except that we will see our living standards drop. We see it now with loss of jobs. Hidden behind the scenes is the deregulation of industry and most important, rollback of environmental regulations to match what never was put in place overseas.

[cocoabeach]

4. Dell Computers back tracked already....

They are closing their support that was in India because customers couldn't understand their broken English. Maybe the tide is changin back to good American companies.

[area51]

5. Dell

Dell is only going to give corporate buyers tech support from American workers; average folks will still get their tech support from India, etc.

[Dirk39]

6. Does this mean that Bush Jr. has to immigrate to India, after he

did have to leave the white house, 'cause corporate buyers don't get his broken english. Man, this world is complicated...
Broken in Germany,
Dirk

[shanti]

7. final call?

hardly an unbiased source, but i agree witht the premise of the article.

[VolcanoJen]

9. Not LBN... locking

This piece is primarily an opinion article; the author of this piece, Harry R. Davidson, Ph.D., is also credited as a
Guest Columnist by the website.

Please feel free to repost this article in the Editorials & Other Articles Forum.

Thanks!
VolcanoJen
DU Moderator