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Subject:Re: Offshoring: San Jose Mercury News article From:"Chuck Martin" <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 11 Nov 2003 13:36:54 -0800
<kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com> wrote in message news:219530 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
>
> > I really have to wonder how tightly you would cling to
> > your claim that offshoring is *good* for us if your
> > job was taken from you and moved to Bangalore.
>
>
> KK - here's a survey. Look at the following five objects:
>
> ? your car
American automakers don't produce high-mileage, low-polluting hybrid
vehicles, so yes, my Insight was made in Japan. (They also claim that
Americans "want" SUVs, but compare the amount of advertising for SUVs to the
amount of advertising for small, fuel-efficient cars, then ask yourself: "If
the ratio was reversed, what would Americans 'want?'")
> ? your TV
Are there any American manufacturers of TVs left? Especially of inexpensive,
projection TVs?
> ? your cell phone
Mototola's still American, right?
> ? the shirt or blouse you're wearing
Not sure (my neck doesn't twist around enough to see the tag), but I paid
enough for it (it has an embroidered university and bowl game logo), so odds
are it might be American made.
> ? your wristwatch (or the nearest clock)
Hey, I have a geek watch. You make the call.
>
> How many were made in your country? In my case, I don't think any of them
> were. So I'm definitely part of the problem - are you?
>
I think there's a loose association, at best, to compare moved jobs to jobs
lost by automation, especially as the latter was about manufacturing and
technical improvements, while the former is about allegedly saving money. A
technical writer in the US (or Canada) losing a job to someone doing the
same work in India isn't losing the job because technology has made the job
obsolete.
If you want a more accurate comparison, try shoes and clothes, manufacturing
processes that can be only partially mechanized. It's still a
labor-intensive process, and so we get investigations of Nike for keeping
sweatshops in Indonesia or Vietnam. Who profits from this? Well, the latest
got-to-have models still go for $200. So the spread between what's paid and
what goes to the people doing the work goes...where?
Companies that are offshoring, will their products become cheaper? I doubt
it.
Yet if the cost of living were less, I'd work for less. I have no designs on
mansions and baubles. I want to make enough in my chosen trade to (a) pay
the bills--including rent and food--without worrying, (b) be comfortable,
(c) have some fun once in awhile, and (d) prepare adequately for a modest
retirement. That's all I need (with someone to share it all with) to be
pretty happy. Is that so much to ask?
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