You probably heard this morning that the french job law called CPE got withdrawn this morning. The endless protestations from students and unions forced the government to rethink their position.
Now, weither you're for or against the anglo-saxon ways, this shows that people do have power if they will associate and disrupt the economy.
The sad thing here in the US is that the only people going to the streets are illegal immigrants who shouldn't even be here, and hardcore defendants of personal/religious issues such as abortion, or to protest or defend a war.
But do we see americans going to the streets to defend job security against outsourcing?
Will the US's dwindling middle class go on strike nationally to work toward more comprehensive outsourcing laws? Is it even organized or willing to do so?
Why is outsourcing wrong? I have a few ideas on that.
CEOs are working for one reason only, and that is to maximise profit for their own gain, company shares and what-not. The savings they gain from outsourcing to, let's say India, does not primarily pass over to the customer but to themselves.
Around the world there will always be someone as smart as you and as qualified, if not more, who will be willing to work for much less than you. So, contrary to some speculators, I believe no one is safe from outsourcing.
If we go on without protecting the interests of the american worker, the american middle class will be all but a thing of the past. The profits company make will serve their own interests first and create more and more foreign low wage jobs. We already have to contend with illegal foreign workers here who push wages down. So who gets screwed and is doing nothing to protect themselves? The middle class.
Give it a decade or too and our economy will remain 'great' on the surface, but scratch it and what we see will be the truth of what the government hates for you to think about. The top 1% of the ultra privileged will be outrageously richer, the middle class will have all but disappeared and a whole lot of americans will remain stuck at low paying jobs. And when we can't buy their goods anymore they will sell them abroad. Is that what we want?
Of course it seems that logic tells us everything will have to balance out. Wages will have to rise for foreign workers in India and China (already happening) but they will have to tapper off before companies start hiring again in the homeland. Decent wage blue collar workers are an extinct species here. The economy of this country is not in the hands of the people, but lies in the pockets of those who can manipulate it for their own interests. Lobbyists know all about that...and they don't care.
I guess I could say more...debate if you feel like it. I realize this is a complex issue, much more than what I outlined here.
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