Derek, that's what we pay politicians the big bucks for! Reasonable
people on both sides of this issue can find a workable solution. India
may be 3rd world on the economic scale, but it's movers and shakers are
educated and as up to the task of dealing with this problem as are we.
It's not in their best interests to be perceived as hurting us, and they
know that. A meeting of the minds on this can be achieved without
resorting to drastic steps, such as protectionism. That's what the give
and take of politics is supposed to be about.
We've got a trigger happy gov't and a bunch of nervous people on this
side. Our biggest goal should be to defuse issues, not throw gas on
them. Good things don't come out of bad actions, and isolationism in a
shrinking world is a bad action.
Besides, consider the alternatives. Who is to say that India isn't
capable of going into the business of producing another major OS and the
few key applications that drive the whole thing? That is, and will
remain a real possibility. Might be better to forestall that than egg it
on.
And I am personally affected. Yes, I'm vested for retirement (9 years
from now), but it's just enough to survive on. I'd like to do a little
better than that, so I've built and hope to sell off a rather
substantial VFP application to make up the difference. If VFP and/or our
world of programming gets hurt, I get hurt right along with it. But,
I'll tell you something: I'd rather be broke in a stable world than be
rich in one at war. Not that I think this situation with India will
start a war, but I do think that our general attitude with regard to
international affairs is critical, and how we regard the people of India
is yet another bellwether.
We pay politicians very well to find good solutions to these problems.
If they can't do that, then we have to find politicians who can.
Bill
> Look at the economics, Bill. It costs Indians $0.55 to
> eat lunch in their canteen. How much does it cost us? Easily
> 10 times that. I'm all for globalization if everyone is on an
> equal footing, but the Indians have a severe advantage, in
> that they have a cost of living that's less than 1/10th of
> our's. You won't find me calling foul to Canadian or even
> most European out-sourcing, but India just isn't on the same
> level-- we can't compete. By outsourcing, we're simply
> exporting our prosperity.
> Maybe you're OK with that Bill, because you don't have
> too many years left in the working world, but others have
> numerous decades before retirement. The idea of America
> simply inventing and everyone else just sitting back and
> waiting for that is total BS-- there's absolutely NO reason
> that the USA will be the source for all good ideas-- just the
> idea is extremely arrogant and blind to reality.
>
>
> --
> Derek
>
©2004 Bill Arnold |
