Boy, Mark, you REALLY drank the Kool-aid, didn't you?

I'm ambivalent about free trade for goods.  But SERVICES?  Technological,
educational superiority, or high transportation costs used to suffice to
maintain American labor's cost effectiveness. But now, skilled labor can
being freely imported from overseas via high speed data connections for less
than the cost of a flimsy ocean-going raft. How are American workers
supposed to compete with this extremely cheap offshore labor that sneaks in
and sneaks back out with 10% of the money they're worth? (I'm sure SOMEONE
will say "Take a 90% pay cut?")  In my opinion, this is FAR worse than
illegal aliens who run across the border to clean toilets, pick produce, and
work as housekeepers.  Imagine the outcry if they were coming in to work as
unlicensed doctors or CPA's.

Hundreds of thousands of cheap laborers can be 'virtually' imported at will
to this country without regulation, the benefit spending their money here,
or contributing to the U.S. national economy in any way. The IRS doesn't
even get to privilege of taxing their wages nor do they pay into Social
Security. We have no way to validate their credentials, training, or
certifications.  They are a voice on the phone that barely speaks the same
language as the customer.  In this arrangement, the only direction that
capital flows with "OFFSHORING" is OUT of the U.S. with some siphoned off by
the CEO that made the decision to offshore the labor. They are leeches.  One
or two don't drink much, but . . . .

Now that we have the technology to evaluate medical tests overseas, the only
highly skilled professionals we HAVEN'T figured out how to 'virtually
import' using the internet are lawyers, another form of blood sucking low
life.


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Wonsil [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 10:49 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: NYTimes.com Article: Op-Ed Contributor: Second
Thoughts on Free Trade


Tom Hula wrote:
> The real problem is that these people running American businesses
> truly think that they can hire these cheaper foreign workers and do
> just as well or even better than with trained experienced American
> technical workers.

<nit_pick>I think you meant English speaking workers since this list
contains some really excellent folks from other countries whose English is
better than many Americans.</nit_pick>

The point of the WSJ editorial is that in order for U.S. workers to keep
their rates up, they have to raise their value.  Right now some companies
are paying less and getting less.  This is why you can get a DLink product
cheaper than many others.  If Cisco/Linksys promised tech support that was
all U.S. labor, would you buy their product instead?  If so, vote with your
pocketbook.  If Linksys offered a premium service that guaranteed you a U.S.
worker, would you pay for it?  Some have already pressured companies to
raise the tech support level or lose business.  That's how it's going to
work.  Better English speaking workers in India will be able to get more
than those whose skills lack.  BTW, how are the American workers answering
questions at HP about the HP 3000?  :-o

IMHO, in the big picture it's better for the U.S. if jobs can move around.
If we sit back and try to maintain the "have vs. have not" status we have in
the world, we put ourselves at greater risk.  It fosters resentment in the
world.  It reduces the market in which we could be selling.  It makes us
lazy.  Sure, some might like to cruise to retirement in just one job but I
suspect that, while it's uncomfortable and even scary, most on this list
find moving to new things rewarding and exciting once they land somewhere.
We don't grow without pressure.  Most of us need external pressures to move
us off our butt and get us to think and grow.  Hell, that's why I got
married.  ;-)

Mark W.

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