My computer and I have been through a bad spell these past couple of weeks.
First, my router/modem developed a terminal malfunction, and then my new anti-virus software failed to install. Thankfully, three very capable and patient gentlemen at various technical support facilities found solutions.
These three gentlemen were, respectively, from India, the Philippines, and once again, India.
If you or someone in your family is about to graduate with a degree in computer science, don't expect to find a job in the U.S. any time soon.
Amidst my computer worries, I bought a dozen or so electrical supplies from the local hardware: a surge protector, extension cords, a phone, that sort of thing. Glancing at the labels, I found that each and every one was made in China. And a new hard drive? From Malaysia.
No need to go on with this, you know about it already. It's called "outsourcing."
Damned greedy capitalists are dismantling our manufacturing base and shipping it overseas!
Were it as simple as that, it would be a waste of my effort writing about it, and of your time reading yet another complaint about that which is painfully familiar.
But outsourcing, and the consequent loss of millions of American manufacturing and service jobs, is not the plain and simple result of corporate greed. It is, instead, an inevitable result of a combination of factors, including:
** the successful enactment of the right-wing dogmas of "the invisible hand" and "trickle down," namely the conviction that individual entrepreneurs and corporations will, by seeking only their own economic gain, obtain the best results for society at large. These are "dogmas" because they are "proven," not by historical evidence or practical experience, but rather through repetition.
** the corollary libertarian dogma that government has no justification whatever in interfering with the economic activities of private individuals and corporations. In the words of Milton Friedman, "There is nothing wrong with the United States that a dose of smaller and less intrusive government would not cure."
** fiduciary responsibility: the legal requirement that the primary responsibility of the corporation is to its stockholders, not the public.
Thus the necessity of outsourcing is beyond the control of any single corporation's executives or board of directors. It is a thus a tragedy, in the sense defined by the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead: a consequence of "the remorseless working of things." (See Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons." ). As long as these conditions obtain, jobs will gravitate toward the individuals accepting the lowest wages, i.e., those abroad, and the middle class will wither as wealth flows from those who create the nation's wealth to those who own and control the wealth. These are conditions that are destined to ruin the economy of the United States.
"As long as these conditions obtain..." The obvious solution, then, is to change "these conditions."
The Problem of Fiduciary Responsibility
So why don't corporate executives simply behave like good Americans, and keep those jobs stateside?
Because, quite frankly, if they were to do so, they would be taken to court by the stockholders and sued. And they would lose.
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. Partridge has taught philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, "The Online Gadfly" (www.igc.org/gadfly) and co-edits the progressive website, "The Crisis Papers" (www.crisispapers.org). His book in progress, "Conscience of a Progressive," can be seen at www.igc.org/gadfly/progressive/^toc.htm .
Enough of that sort of bullshit...outsourcing only keeps profits (and bonuses to top executives) high, but while doing so not only strips a good paying job from an American but also takes away the taxes to the United States treasury. I believe it was that "crazy little guy" Ross Perot who warned us of the "whooshing" sound of jobs going to Mexico as a result of NAFTA. He also stated that what we needed here was high paying jobs as that would give us more taxes. For that statement he was characterized as wanting to raise taxes.
A nation that is dependent upon outsiders for their basic needs is not one that is save. We have become dependent upon sources from outside our borders because of corporate profits. Thus, we are becoming less safe.
by
Dennis Kaiser (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 280 comments)
on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 5:47:29 AM
Another question that begs to be asked is what is going to happen when all these countries we have outsourced to going to figure out that they are literally low paid servants of America and start raising their prices to increase their financial well being?
If American pockets are now being squeezed here at home by rising prices and stagnant wages, and the countries that do our manufacturing/service bidding raise their prices, just what are the CEOs and shareholders going to do when their slice of the pie has become too expensive to support?
CEO salaries continuing to climb ever higher leading the shareholders to demand a larger return, prices shooting through the roof, combined with a decreased earning power and less purchasing power, is an implosion steam rolling our way.
Unbalanced capitalism has an end point that is well within our immediate grasp. 1929 be damned, this time it is going to get ugly.
by
Rabbi (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 108 comments)
on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 7:59:49 AM
The U.S. is fully in charge of its own tariffs. The U.S. should raise its tariffs.
The religion of lower tariffs is a false religion. Tariffs can compensate for the uneven playing field around the world.
I suppose one can accuse me of simplifying to a fault, but the rest of a discussion would be nuances. At the top line, that's really all there is to it.
by
John Kusumi (43 articles, 0 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 88 comments)
on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 8:22:50 AM
Yes, things are out of their control, but they have no greatness to lose, except perhaps in a few of their employees. It is all about the fast buck and hoping to invest it before it turns to nothing.
by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1376 comments)
on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 12:19:41 PM
I agree with your article with only one inclusion, the signature at the bottom of both NAFTA and the WTO is William Jefferson Clinton and both agreements were heavily pursued by Albert Gore.
I add this note to punctuate the indifference between the parties when it comes pure unbridled greed and capitalism and the total disdain that each show for the American Middle Class.
by
Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments)
on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 12:45:45 PM
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