On Mar 29, 2010, at 10:50 AM, Jim Phillips wrote:

> As someone wiser than me pointed out, the economy is being  
> globalized and flattened.  That doesn't mean that we are raising all  
> those other countries up to our standard of living.  Their standard  
> of living will increase, but ours is lowered everytime we lose a  
> higher-paying job to someone willing to work for less.  It will end  
> with the global standard of living somewhere in the middle, and it's  
> going to get worse for us as we continue.

That's a very profound statement and it is so true. I've had to reduce  
my consulting rates to compete, which means my standard of living has  
gone down, even though I can probably do the job twice as fast and  
twice as well as my "competition". I have found in the past few years  
that if (and that's a BIG IF) I can get my foot in the door and prove  
what I can do, I will get the follow-on work at a fairer rate. But,  
getting my foot in the door is harder and harder to do, especially as  
someone showing a lot of grey hair.

Everyone is saying that we're seeing the first generation (our kids)  
where their standard of living is going to be less than that of their  
parents. I feel bad for my kids and hope it isn't too late to change  
the trend. Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling that it is.


Regards,


M.

--
Mark Klein
PGP Key Available
www.dis.com