bump

This is the first time I"ve heard an AP mechanic saying they make anything but lousy money.

hey don.. um.. i read alot about your views on keeping jobs in the u.s... and i know i dont fully agree with them.. and i also dont believe in labor exploitation.. but i do believe in a global economy.. that said.. if you ever read the economist.. this months big issue(the world in 2005) had an essay contest on this subject and i think the winning essay was an interesting take.. basically it was a humanistic explanation for the need to accept that old america is gone forever.. and we must embrace a global economy...so its worth reading i think.. the idea of "made in the u.s.a" is what got us into iraq in my eyes.. but ill spare you that explanation.. itd be too long an essay

Come'on ... dont make me google! Where's the article link?

ha.. this took me forever to find sillygirl.. they dont make it easy

http://www.shelleconomistprize.com/index2.html

click 2004 winners.. its the article by claudia o'keefe

its the one titled "import workers or export jobs"

Don Walker, the next Keith Bontrager :D

Shell .... hmm.... do you think they'd like an essay that's against globalism?

ok.. why did i know that would be the first comment.. if you read deeper .. read the judges and that its the economists contest.. youd know that your comment is just a stupid off the cuff remark.. but.. i can tell you didnt.. great research.. now can we hear some conspirecy theories you cracked this month?

looks really interesting! I have worked with some of the ecomonmist journalists before and they are all pretty smart standup guys - very zany and for the most part pretty "liberal." And for what its worth - in the publishing world, companies advertise regardless of the content - and they have no say - its actually goes against publishing "rules" to allow the advertiser to influence the content - if they do that then it has to have the words "special advertising section."

PS thanks for finding the link!

ooops

thanks for getting my back on the integrity of the content.. and thanks to ostro for the smarter link.. that monkey makes anything you type funnier.. even if its an updated link..

by no means am i saying this is the end all be all on the subject.. i just like her examples and the idea that we need to start thinking different because the old way is gone forever

The global economy can exist without greedy corporations pushing the bottom line... I don't really see it as a global economy until it goes both ways; I think its sad that nobody but westerners can afford western products... Sure, they are 'better', they 'last longer', and they are 'non-exploitative', but to most people in the world they are just about as affordable as lear-jets. I can't help but feel kind of guilty when the cost of my bicycle would feed a village for 6 months, despite the fact that I'm supporting good old worker boys from the States.

I'm not really going anywhere with this, but its impossible to relieve the abject poverty of most of the world without giving them jobs. As it is we are just raping resources and giving cash to the head-men. At least the creation of jobs (despite poor wages) helps to level the scales a little. Its either all or nothing.

globalization is a byproduct of technological innovation. The environment has changed and now we must adapt to it; as with any evolution there will be winners and losers during the transition period.

It's similar to global warming (not in an alarmist or environmental sense, but based on facts here ), its already here, we cant turn it off and so we must live with consequences.

and dont forget to not learn anything from it for the future and take it as god given...

The world's organic population has probably been almost completely anihillated 6 times from massive catastrophic metor impacts. These impacts were strong enough to evaporate all the water on the planet and turn pretty much everything into super heated rock. The only reason life could continue was because of hardy bacteria living deep in the earths crust in a narrow band above the heat from the mantle and below the heat from the apocalyptic earth surface. I'd be really impressed if we could come even close to matching this kind of ultimate destruction. If we don't kill the earth, space is going to eventually, so why don't we all just relax and become SUV driving nihilists? Life will always survive, and maybe the next intelligent species won't be so freaking stupid.

Not learning from the past would be wasting energy and resources fighting inevitable change instead of learning to adapt and making the change properly .....

or treating other countries the way we abhor treating americans (in america we fight for robin hood ethics, but then in the global economy we say "buy american" aka support only the wealthiest nation)

We shouldn't take care of the earth's environment for mother nature's sake, she is very capable of taking care of herself. If we screw stuff up too much she will simply wipe us out and start over. This heart warming view of the world is touching, but ultimately useless and just another way to boost an ego..

instead a more honest and selfish view would be appropriate. We should take care of the earth's environment for OUR sake - we are depleting OUR resources, we are ruining the air WE breath. We are creating our own destruction. We should do it for our health and our ability to sustain life - as well as our children and their children.

The call to take care of the environment 'for OUR sake' is fine for marketing an idea to a selfish population.....it's all about us!!! talk about an ego boost. I think it's time we remember/relearn that taking care of others (including the environment) is a far better way to take care ourselves. Let's move beyond the 'what's in it for me/us' think and just do something because it's right. We'll still be better off for it.

Jim

I'm not in favor of the current globalization trend where people get cheap labor in other countries because the cheap labor isn't protected by worker safety laws, however, I have no problem with high quality things made in other countries. I'll always pay a little more for a high quality product put together by skilled people who care, regardless of the country. I won't buy Nike, because it is put together by marginalized people who don't care, and who are likely being abused. However, I've owned hi-fi speakers made in Thailand because they are made by a small company of crafts-people who own the company, and take pride in the products they make (and they are kick-booty products).

For me it isn't really what country something comes from, but how its made, and how the workers are treated, and whether or not they truly care about the final product. You find that a lot in the US, and that is something to be proud of, but it can be found in every country in the world if you look for it.

peace,
sam

who is god?

ahhh - see that is exactly how I define selfihness though. Different defitions of a word make conversations very difficult!

Many people refer to a toddler who is whining for "MY TOY" as being selfish - but i see that as a moment of lack of selfishness. See at that very moment she is alienating or pissing off the other child she is playing with and ultimately doing herself a disfavor. Thus she probably wont get to play with the other childs toy the next day.

However, if she had shared her toy, then when the other child gets a brand new toy, she is more likely to share back. Thus she is spreading her resources to get more in return. And thats what I call the beauty of being selfish. Same principle as helping others because it is the right thing to do, just a tad more honest, and more importantly a larger view of the actual transaction at hand.

Objectivists like me get a bad wrap - but usually its because people are hesitant to understand a difference in language - which is very subjective. Frequently people get caught up in their own definition and fail to listen with an open ear....

I'm not sharing my GI-Joe dolls with my lame-ass friend with the care-bears. He can play with those happy little bastards all he wants, but they won't ever be posable action figures! :D