globalization and peanut wages
Grace is 19 and says it's great to work for a global company but she fears that globalization -- the offshoring of jobs and importing of foreign workers -- is exacerbating rather than ameliorating interracial relations and jeopardizing the future of everyone in western nations.
"Every day I communicate with people from all over the world," says Grace, "and it's like we're all the same, but we're not!"
"Mostly, we all eat the same food, wear the same clothes and watch the same television programs by virtue of globalization," says Grace, "and yet when I see job auctions on the Net, and more and more workers in affluent countries being replaced by outsourced workers in less-affluent countries, I get to wonder. What's going on here? Is my job safe?"
On one hand, it seems reasonable to Grace that those who are willing and able to work for less money should be given preference by employers. And it should not matter where in the world you reside if the work is to be outsourced.
"Let's face it," says Grace, "when I go shopping for a particular item, I don’t head directly for the most expensive store in town. I shop around until I find exactly what I’m looking for at a price I can afford. If I get a bargain, I’m pleased. Most of us shop like this. Right?"
Using this argument, Grace felt that she had no right to chastise employers for applying the same bargaining principle to workers.
"But hang on," adds Grace, "there’s a huge difference between things and people."
Grace is mindful that the things we buy at bargain prices have undoubtedly been produced by people in Third World countries working at bargain rates of pay.
Grace is not so patriotic (but maybe she should be?) that she only buys goods produced by her fellow countrymen and women. To do so may ensure that her people retain their jobs and receive high wages, but it also means that she pays higher prices.
"We’re all familiar with the phenomenon of child slaves in Third World countries being paid peanuts by global companies for producing luxury goods sold to people in affluent countries," says Grace, "and it really pains me that the spiffy runners I’m wearing may have been produced by such a child and that he or she received a miniscule amount of the total dollars I paid for the footwear."
"The reality of the situation," explains Grace, "is that a handful of peanuts to us is like a handful of gold to people in Third World countries. Without the work that the global companies outsource, these people would starve. And this upsets me."
Bearing in mind that these countries are poor largely because their populations are not controlled - resulting in an astronomical ratio between available jobs and workers - the logical extension of globalization, according to Grace, is to outsource all work to Third World, or less affluent, countries.
"Already, call centers, IT work and manufacturing are going offshore," she says, "and there is very little that unions can do about it."
"So, where does that leave us?" asks Grace. "What sort of future do we have?"
Grace wants to know how we can compete for outsourced work with people in Kahazzipalitti or some other country that we have never even heard of. For a job that they may bid $100 to do - against our bid of $5,000 - they might be able to retire in luxury for the rest of their lives. For $100, Grace couldn’t even buy her lunch for a week, and yes, she knows that’s a hefty price to pay for lunch but living at home allows her to be a bit extravagant.
Grace asks: "When you consider the hundreds of thousands of dollars that my parents forked out to raise me and my brothers and sisters and send us to good schools hoping to ensure us a good future, it doesn’t seem fair that our jobs are disappearing and our futures aren’t looking good."
Grace is absolutely delighted that people in Kahazzipalitti can retire on $100. Good for them! But if their good fortune is going to mean her destitution - or maybe her children’s when she gets around to finding a guy and having some - then she feels that something is very, very wrong.
"And when workers from third world countries are actually hired on cheap contracts and brought out here by our employers to work alongside us in teams the situation is even more scary," says Grace. "How can we be expected to accept these people into our team when they are taking away our jobs?"
"Already, some of my friends are beginning to hate these foreign workers," says Grace. "Not because of the color of their skin or the language they speak, but simply because they are taking our jobs."
"Of course," says Grace, "it would be ideal if everyone in the world had the same benefits and opportunities that we do. Globalization definitely has the potential to bring that about. What’s more likely, though, is that globalization will continue on its merry way without checks and balances and ultimately we’ll all be reduced to the lowest common denominator - we’ll all be working for peanuts!"
"OK," says Grace, "so where in the world is Kahazzipalitti? Right now it’s looking like a pretty good place for me to retire at 25 in luxury! But then, of course, the good people of Kahazzipalitti would start hating us for taking over their country!"
"I don't think I'll be marrying and having kids like my parents did because the world is not the same place it was in their time," says Grace, "and it looks like I'm going to be living at home forever like the Kahazzipalitti kids do!"
"Every day I communicate with people from all over the world," says Grace, "and it's like we're all the same, but we're not!"
"Mostly, we all eat the same food, wear the same clothes and watch the same television programs by virtue of globalization," says Grace, "and yet when I see job auctions on the Net, and more and more workers in affluent countries being replaced by outsourced workers in less-affluent countries, I get to wonder. What's going on here? Is my job safe?"
On one hand, it seems reasonable to Grace that those who are willing and able to work for less money should be given preference by employers. And it should not matter where in the world you reside if the work is to be outsourced.
"Let's face it," says Grace, "when I go shopping for a particular item, I don’t head directly for the most expensive store in town. I shop around until I find exactly what I’m looking for at a price I can afford. If I get a bargain, I’m pleased. Most of us shop like this. Right?"
Using this argument, Grace felt that she had no right to chastise employers for applying the same bargaining principle to workers.
"But hang on," adds Grace, "there’s a huge difference between things and people."
Grace is mindful that the things we buy at bargain prices have undoubtedly been produced by people in Third World countries working at bargain rates of pay.
Grace is not so patriotic (but maybe she should be?) that she only buys goods produced by her fellow countrymen and women. To do so may ensure that her people retain their jobs and receive high wages, but it also means that she pays higher prices.
"We’re all familiar with the phenomenon of child slaves in Third World countries being paid peanuts by global companies for producing luxury goods sold to people in affluent countries," says Grace, "and it really pains me that the spiffy runners I’m wearing may have been produced by such a child and that he or she received a miniscule amount of the total dollars I paid for the footwear."
"The reality of the situation," explains Grace, "is that a handful of peanuts to us is like a handful of gold to people in Third World countries. Without the work that the global companies outsource, these people would starve. And this upsets me."
Bearing in mind that these countries are poor largely because their populations are not controlled - resulting in an astronomical ratio between available jobs and workers - the logical extension of globalization, according to Grace, is to outsource all work to Third World, or less affluent, countries.
"Already, call centers, IT work and manufacturing are going offshore," she says, "and there is very little that unions can do about it."
"So, where does that leave us?" asks Grace. "What sort of future do we have?"
Grace wants to know how we can compete for outsourced work with people in Kahazzipalitti or some other country that we have never even heard of. For a job that they may bid $100 to do - against our bid of $5,000 - they might be able to retire in luxury for the rest of their lives. For $100, Grace couldn’t even buy her lunch for a week, and yes, she knows that’s a hefty price to pay for lunch but living at home allows her to be a bit extravagant.
Grace asks: "When you consider the hundreds of thousands of dollars that my parents forked out to raise me and my brothers and sisters and send us to good schools hoping to ensure us a good future, it doesn’t seem fair that our jobs are disappearing and our futures aren’t looking good."
Grace is absolutely delighted that people in Kahazzipalitti can retire on $100. Good for them! But if their good fortune is going to mean her destitution - or maybe her children’s when she gets around to finding a guy and having some - then she feels that something is very, very wrong.
"And when workers from third world countries are actually hired on cheap contracts and brought out here by our employers to work alongside us in teams the situation is even more scary," says Grace. "How can we be expected to accept these people into our team when they are taking away our jobs?"
"Already, some of my friends are beginning to hate these foreign workers," says Grace. "Not because of the color of their skin or the language they speak, but simply because they are taking our jobs."
"Of course," says Grace, "it would be ideal if everyone in the world had the same benefits and opportunities that we do. Globalization definitely has the potential to bring that about. What’s more likely, though, is that globalization will continue on its merry way without checks and balances and ultimately we’ll all be reduced to the lowest common denominator - we’ll all be working for peanuts!"
"OK," says Grace, "so where in the world is Kahazzipalitti? Right now it’s looking like a pretty good place for me to retire at 25 in luxury! But then, of course, the good people of Kahazzipalitti would start hating us for taking over their country!"
"I don't think I'll be marrying and having kids like my parents did because the world is not the same place it was in their time," says Grace, "and it looks like I'm going to be living at home forever like the Kahazzipalitti kids do!"
Labels: foreign workers, globalization, offshoring, outsourced workers, peanut wages, service jobs
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