From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Tue Aug 12 2003 - 14:23:10 MDT
Mitch wrote:
> Rafal:
> <<### This is an old defense - "I really like my butler, he's black,
> but a good man, nevertheless. But you couldn't let blacks work on
> their own, listen to those scumbag abolitionists and set their own
> prices. They need supervision, visas, regulations so they won't
> compete with me, so I can keep my cushy job. Except for my butler,
> let them clean sewers".>>
>
> This doesn't seem to be my defense. Mine is that the greediest (not
> necessarilly the very richest) segment of the economy are sending
> jobs overseas. This will shrink the US middle class, and destablize
> the American economy. There are those who, seemingly, are unconcerned
> or even jubilant about this development. I am not.
### You seem to be looking at managers from the underdog point-of-view - you
portray them as the powerful, dangerous, mean types, who can bite you if
they want, and get all the best bitches in the pack.
Well, the greediest segment of the economy is not the manager. The manager
has very little individual power, his actions are channeled by the owners of
capital on one side, and consumers of goods on the other. US managers now
send jobs overseas because they can, thanks to technology. Just as railroads
allowed the sending of vegetable-growing jobs from Maine to Florida,
communications technology allows sending IT jobs to India. US managers send
jobs overseas because they have to - if they don't, somebody else will,
offer cheaper products to consumers and kill their company. Since the
capital owners want the manager to give a return on capital, and consumers
want him to organize the production of cheap but good quality goods, the
manager does their bidding.
You are a consumer. If you have anything in a mutual fund (like I do), you
are a capitalist. It is you, the average American (well, not quite average,
you are on the Extrolist), who is responsible for sending jobs to India, by
your everyday choices.
Start throwing away money on poor investments instead of quality funds,
start buying pricey local products instead of good foreign ones. Once you
have thus proven you are not greedy yourself, feel free to preach against
greed.
Also, since the American middle class is overwhelmingly in possession of
capital (I am not including middle-class wannabes who are pretending they
are rich by spending on credit), the globalization of labor will only
benefit them - you can't shrink a capitalist by making his investments pay
more. American economy can only stabilized and expanded by cooperating with
good workers all over the world.
Greed, channeled through a free market, is good.
----------------------------------------------
>
> Well, the Fortune 500 send their buddies, lobbyists to DC to get
> their way with this economy. Now its back-firing and according to an
> article in the Wall Street Journal, this will cost W the election.
### Down with W!
Rafal
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