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I am the author of 13 published computer books and a consultant specializing in Java, C++, and Smalltalk development. Please check out my two Free Web Books at my main site www.markwatson.com

 



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  Monday, July 28, 2003


The Christian Science Monitor (a great low-bias source of news in general) has another article on "the great sucking sound" of white colar jobs moving over seas.

While globalization has some real down sides (read Arundhati Roy's great book "Power Politics"), I feel like it is inevitable so I personally try to adjust and not complain - better to be pro-active in deciding how to deal with large scale issues personally.

Indeed, I think that if we can avoid huge scale corruption (as detailed in "Power Politics"), a world wide free capitalistic markplace could be a good thing. Last night, in my local paper (Arizona Republic) I was reading a fine article about how labor unions (some of them, not all) in France, Germany, Italy, and Austria were making major concessions because their members would much rather trade earlier retirement, higher wages, and more health care benefits for a better chance of having a job. I find it a good and positive thing to see Europeans willing to take a realistic look at the world, and adjust. The article also mentioned that many workers are simply quiting labor unions - interesting, since there seems to be a real movement in the U.S., for technical people to form unions to help protect overseas outsourcing.

I have traveled to Africa, India, Guatemala, Columbia, Mexico, etc. and in addition to making personal human contact with people living in other countries, this travel again and again makes me realize just what a fine lifestyle we have in the U.S. While the U.S. economy right now is a little scary (and will get worse over the long haul), we have so much here that we can afford to let the rest of the world catch up more than a little and still have good food, comfortable housing, time for family and friends - all the good things in life.

A few days ago on Slashdot, a poster made a powerful "anti Republican" case - basically that the Republican agenda is to squeeze working people, make them feel insecure, and generally cheapen the costs of labor, thereby saving money for big companies. There is certainly some truth to this position, but it seems too simplistic.

I feel that we all have to adjust and live in the world, and a globalized job market is just something that everyone must deal with.

A very good rebutal of my own views can be found at Corey Goode's web site. Corey makes some great points that I do agree with. You know that an issue is complex when you find yourself agreeing with many points made by someone on the other side of an argument.
2:21:22 PM    



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