Posted by A. on July 23, 2005 at 07:46 [12.210.221.132]
In Reply to: Re: Brian goes on and on about stuff, posted by DR on July 23, 2005 at 04:26
Twisted social relativism and a refusal to address an appalling lack of worker protections in ever changing list of outsourced-to nations does little to address the broken promises made us by Neo-liberal leaders. If there is not to be an aggrarian economy, or a high-skill/high tech information economy, there can only be a service (or, in the words of Jello Biafra), a SERFice economy). If you're comfortable with a socio-economic model designed to concentrate wealth in the upper echelons of western societies, while at the same time reducing most Americans to unemployment or under-employment, get ready for class war. Perhaps some Haliburton options might
be in order at some much later date?
Abstract macroeconimic principles such as reduced costs on a global level are simply not being realized here at home. Exporting manufacturing to to a protectionist nation such as China so as to allow future manipulation of world markets is an exceptionally poor choice as a corporate trend as national policy. All we're accomplishing are some very short-term cost cuts in exchange for a future economic hostage situation, in which case a command economy will have the ability to set prices on imported goods once the equivalent of "dumping" has destroyed the western manufacturing base.
Further, Chinese currency manipulation (as endorsed by American manufacturers) is killing our currency, which is making everything spare Chinese factory swill more expensive, ESPECIALLY gasoline, a cost which was a greater impact on the quality of life of most Americans.
Off-shoring of tech and manufacturing to an evolving list of countries (as some are already eroding disparity of wealth, and thus, becoming too expensive) is driven by short-term stunts designed to cut headcount and boost a stock price. Avoiding labor laws, labor standards (such as providing things like benefits) to workers is in such a large part what this is about, not to mention environmental regulations. That the upper echelon of our society should do so much to erode the strives labor has made in the industrialized world as a matter of economic policy is a travesty.
The obvious solution would be to make attempts to globalize labor in the second and third world. Naturally, there is a problem: unionization attempts in such countries are typically confronted with beatings and MURDER, such as the example of Coca-Cola in Nicaragua, where colonistas in partnership with corporations used death squads to "disappear" organizers. As such, the only obvious solution left to the populous is to start "disappearing" industrialists, board members especially, and "globalizing" their assets. Great strides have been made already in Venezuela to curtail the influence of global corporations and to keep oil profits local.
Stepping back a bit to a country those in this toxic climate of economic neo-Liberalism care so little about, let's look at the endgame: thousands of people are losing their jobs just to give Corp. Exec. VP John Q. Finance a bigger Christmas bonus. Every well-paying coding position sent to the second or third world is another new mammoth SUV, investment property, or vacation home for a class of people who already have too much.
All of this off-topic rubbish aside, I suppose the typical DL will just have to sit back and hope that the Chinese start manufacturing a decent disposable.