Thread: GLOBALIZATION WILL HELP TO KEEP AMERICA´S COMPETITIVE EDGE..

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/81/offshore.html

Interesting read from 2004.

Sidebar: Going, Going, GONE?
Offshoring jobs is an old story in the manufacturing sector. Now, service jobs once considered safe are being shipped overseas. Lawyers, accountants, journalists, engineers, take heed. "Any knowledge-worker job is at some risk," says Michael T. Robinson, president of Careerplanner.com. Working with his firm and our own research, we've come up with a list of jobs and their relative vulnerability.

Extreme Risk | Accountant | Industrial Engineer | Production Control Specialist | Quality Assurance Engineer | Call-Center Operator | Help-Desk Specialist | Telemarketer

High or Moderate Risk | Automotive Engineer | Computer Systems Analyst | Database Administrator | Software Developer | Customer-Service Representative | CAD Technician | Paralegal/Legal Assistant | Medical Transcriptionist | Copy Editor/Journalist | Film Editor | Insurance Agent | Lab Technician | Human Resources Specialist

Low Risk | Airplane Mechanic | Artist | Carpenter | Civil Engineer | Headhunter | Interior Designer

Bet you will never find that image in main stream media. One picture worth a thousand words ::FROWN:: the PEOPLE of this nation will pay the price for chosing not to see or hear what was happening in the rest of the world. They preferred the comfort of the moment and sustained the myths this government has fed to them.

As far as the article... interesting read. This particular sentence sent my mind off in a direction it has not gone so far on this subject. You tell me if I'm off the path.

When contacted, some companies refused comment, while many confirmed that they had moved some jobs overseas or said some losses were simply the result of layoffs

Did they refuse to comment because they are uncomfortable with a lie and the truth is these companies which have chosen to literally physically relocate knew in advance this nation was going to be dismantled and the potential ground zero for one hell of a revolution and they wanted their assets OUT of here?

Originally Posted by sakamakakara

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/81/offshore.html

I suppose this is your attempt at sarcasm.

I have a few thoughts about this subject, some of which will probably not be very popular.

First off, this phenomenon of outsourcing is part and parcel to the abdication of personal responsibility in this country. Our Founding Fathers warned us to be eternally vigilant lest we lose all that they had gained for us. Well, unless you account being able to recite every plot line of the last five seasons of ER as vigilance, we have certainly failed misreably. This fact is evident every time Jay Leno does one of his Jaywalking segments and tries to find people on the street who can identify the Vice President or the Speaker of the House.

A major part of our failure has been the acceptance of so-called "corporate culture." The founders of this great nation knew nothing of corporate "benefits." They had never heard of a forty hour work week, minimum wage, paid leave, or any such thing. That's because they were mostly independent sorts who worked for themselves. The crafted, grew, raised, killed or foraged everything they needed. What they couldn't make, grow or find themselves they bartered for. Two and a quarter centuries later, the majority of Americans are dependents. If they are not dependent upon one or another federal benefit (Social Security, welfare, food stamps, government loans), they are dependent upon corporate bennies. How many times have I heard someone moan that they would leave their current job if they could "afford" to lose their health insurance?

Folks, mankind has survived for at least millennia without health insurance. There is nothing about human physiology that has changed. What changes have occurred have been in the cranium as man went from an independent being to the dependency of the serfs under the lords and monarchs of old. Our own Founding Fathers were as responsible as anyone for the end of the monarchies that plagued Europe, yet America has led the world into a new corporate monarchy. Just as peasants of old gladly waived their rights and grovelled at the feet of nobles for protection, so do today's corporate addicts grovel at the feet of corporate America. Pathetic. Who needs who more? Could you get by without the corporations, or could the corporations get by without American workers? There was certainly a time that the former was more true than the latter, but I am no longer sure. The idea of the independent American is all but a relic of history. Rarely has a more dependent people existed. Is this the fault of the corporations or is it our own weakness? After all, why would a modern American take the risk of starting his own business and perhaps having to work long hours, spend sleepless nights, and maybe even toil to the point of breaking a sweat when he or she can enter one of the corporate temples replete with designer wall hangings and perfectly climate-controlled environment for a guaranteed workweek of no more or no less than 40 hours? Sure, there are codes of political correctness that demand that we leave our religious faith and personal opinions at the door, and it's true that if those beliefs or opinions accidentally slip out that we will attend classes to strip us of that annoying lack of homogenization, but isn't that a small price to pay? Sure, we lose the ability to have any independence whatsoever, given that any evidence of such a thing will surely stain our work records and jeopardize our chances of moving from one corporate lord to another in the future, but hey, isn't that the price of comfort?

As much as we moan about corporations and the violence they are doing to our culture, it is we ourselves who perpetuate that very culture. How many are willing to do as the voice from Heaven commanded in John's Apocalypse and "come out of her?" Based on years of personal experience trying to get people to open their eyes, I am willing to wager that there are precious few. And I don't want to hear the excuse that it's simply not possible. I have been able to educate myself in enough disciplines to keep my services and products in demand without having to serve any corporate master and you can do the same. Have I had some hard times? You betcha! But there is no better feeling than persevering through hard times to reach the reward of one's own effort on the other side. Yes, being free of corporate entanglements means that I often go for long periods without taking any meaningful time off work. As a matter of fact, next week will be the first time in three years that I have taken off more than a single day for any reason. But the beauty is that there is no corporate master who can outsource what I do, and I control my own intellectual property which is mine unless and until I choose to sell it to the highest bidder.

So when I hear about corporate outsourcing or people being downsized out of a job, my contempt for corporate culture is justified. But I can feel little sympathy for the people who have become so pathetically dependent and have so painted themselves into a corner by mastering a single skill of value that having their jobs outsourced becomes a devastating tragedy. To me, it's like the battered wife suffering her third broken bone of the year yet who refuses to leave the abusive household. How much violence must corporate culture visit on America before Americans start seeking a divorce?

it's like the battered wife suffering her third broken bone of the year yet who refuses to leave the abusive household. How much violence must corporate culture visit on America before Americans start seeking a divorce?

truly excellant analogy

Excellent thread....