They Outsourced What?

With unemployment holding steady at around 9-10% and many people out of work in the US there have been many complainants regarding outsourcing. Everything from tech support to call centers and many, many manufacturing jobs have been shipped over seas. Just when I thought they'd outsourced every job they possibly could I read this earlier this summer-

From the NYT-

Really? “Most U.S. companies don’t have these types of warehouses, equipment or the cash flow." If that's true I find that deeply saddening.

I also find it ironic that this bridge is within viewing distance of the Golden Gate Bridge which when built was an engineering marvel and touted as an example of what US industry was capable of completing.

Had you heard about this project?

Do you think it's true the US no longer can accomplish such projects?

What do you think about having Chinese workers install the finished project here?

 

Right now we still manufacture more than any other country, based on dollar amount produced. But the Chinese are set to over take us either this year or next. 3-4 years ago for every $1 of product produced in China we manufactured $2.50. Once they start making commercial planes, decent cars, missiles and other military hardware we're toast.

 

if all that matters is capital flows, then where production is located isn't terribly relevant.
this has been true for 20 years. the internet radicalized a pre-existing trend. transnationalization of fragmented production linked via kanban-style systems on a global context.
what's odd is that people are suddenly noticing this now.
why now and not 20 years ago?

 

Well slowly but surely (I know please don't call me Shirley) they've been chipping away at it. It's taken them 30 years but looks like they're going to do it.

People point out that we owe China money, which is true. But we owe US bond holders way more then we owe them or any other nation. I think the lack of production is a much larger issue.

 

so you'd think. at the same time this is a logical outcome of the internationalization of trade in stocks. deterritorialization of ownership. goes back to nixon.

btw i agree with you. just looking at it from a different angle.

 

As long as we can get it cheap has become the only concern. It's actually been that way for a long time. How many small town main streets were shuttered by Wal-Mart? Certainly seemed short sighted to me. And no it's not new it's just snowballing faster and faster.

 

it's a structural feature of neo-liberal capitalism. it's one of the many reasons that ideology should be set on fire.

 

Yes but you can buy 2 dozen tube socks for $12... so Yay!

 

well to quote ross perot, it's that giant sucking sound that comes from these free trade agreements. why do we not listen to the people that predict this stuff?

importing labor and products at slave labor rates doesn't do us or other countries any favors.

 

I remember Ol' Ross. He had a lot of steam behind him. Then he picked some ex admiral as his VP nominee who stated in debates and other public venues "What am I doing here?" He also went on TV via self paid half hour commercials to expain his "vision." He came off sounding like a nut job (even though many of his ideas were in principle pretty sound) and looked like some kind of non-blinking robot. Like Nixon v. Kennedy... he just didn't "look" like the best choice.

But I agree, it's not like this is the first time we've heard this is bad for the country. We've been hearing it for years but we're just too content and busy buying $30 DVD players and $5 packs of t-shirts to pay any attention.

 

We can't compete with a nation that pays its workers $12 USD a day. We're at a different place in our life cycle. They're in our industrialized-slave-tenement past. Take the security industry for example: US expatriates gets paid, let's say, $450 a day. Third country nationals (various countries) get paid $450 a month. It's a lower quality product (the military industrial complex and its associated byproducts are one thing the US still kicks ass in, FBOFW) but still "gets the job done." People don't like it but they can't stomach paying Americans 30 times as much to do the same thing.

...

As the the quality of living increases and the expectation for that quality strengthens, people turn into white America: "I can't do that. That's a job for __Mexicans!__" It reminds me of a few years back: I was sitting in a college classroom in 2009 when I overheard this almost-21 girl in dirty sweatpants and flip flops in the row behind me declare: "Gawd, college is so fucking stupid. I can't wait until I get my degree and make $180k a year!" She was in the same public service degree program I was. The average income of someone starting out with a degree in my field is ~$50k.

We're fucked. And our success is largely responsible for it. You can't have generation after generation have it this good and not expect them to get lazy. We have no famine, no plague, no war, no great crusade to inspire future college kids. What reason do we have to get up off the couch?

The price of economic success is eternal vigilance. And we're asleep at the wheel.

 

UK has awarded Ministry Of Defence contracts to overseas companies - that also gives these companies access to MOD research etc. We have been unable to breed and train people of our own to help the unemployed find jobs - private contract to overseas company.
When I was young, we had a similar financial crisis - and the 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign. You were encouraged to show your support for the country and for the workers of the country by purchasing British manufactured goods. Yes they often cost a little more, but it was a feeling of patriotism that made up for the extra. Of course, in those times a job was a job, and we seemed less picky about what we would do to earn an honest poorly paid days pay. Trouble with buying imported stuff is that the skills to manufacture will be lost in your own country.
Whoever awarded the contract to China might have taken the opportunity to raise the subject of Tibet - sure there was room for a political sweetener to help with the deal. Maybe they could have been encouraged to leave borders open for American tourists at least, then they might have had to be a bit nicer to the people of Tibet.

 

Okay, so we need to push high school kids to get into college for X-Y-Z industries.

How do we get Western White People (WWP) back into any tech of manufacturing jobs?

 

You fuck the boss you get promoted really quickly, duh.

We have several wars they're just not inspiring anyone. When most folks biggest sacrifice is slapping a yellow ribbon on the ass end of their car they're not really that committed to the cause. In previous war people were asked, told to ration goods and supplies. They collected scrape metal and sold war bonds (see they were nuts they thought if you went to war you had to pay for that war, crazy nut bags.)
--- merged: Aug 13, 2011 at 12:04 PM ---

I think that comment about that job being done adequately is important. I recently read where china is in the middle of recalling their new "bullet trains" after one or two crashed and burned.

Plus they not only imported the bridge they brought over their workers to install it. Those workers are making on average less then $20 a day and not paying taxes here on that income. That's simply not a level playing field.