[ale] Defeated by the offshoring of America....

[John Wells]

George Carless said:
> Hey, America's all about capitalism, isn't it?  If resources are cheaper
> off-shore, and provide a better service for the money, then so be it.

All things being equal, I typically agree with those sentiments.  I'm far
from a socialist by any means, and I believe in capitalism and the
doctrine that the "strong shall survive" (strong being those who keep
their nose to the grindstone and don't try to ride other's coattails).

I guess it's a bit harder to stomach these days when I see friends who've
been out of work for 8+ months and who basically worked their asses off in
school and in their jobs afterwards.  Friends who are highly intelligent,
very capable, and begging for any sort of work that will help support
their families.  It's more difficult when you see the strained look in
their eyes when they wonder how they will provide for their families.

At a very high, impersonal level, I see no harm in a company crossing
borders to further the shareholder's wealth.

That said, on a personal level, it just rubs me wrong.  If I truly
believed that the company had done everything it could to cut any
extraneous costs before slashing American workers and supplanting them
with foreigners, that would be one thing.  However, I *know* that's not
always the case, and I feel this sort of move is becoming more of a
knee-jerk reaction that a logical decision.  And management is often more
guilty of herd mentality than any other group in the corporate structure. 
It's *a very bad thing* when this sort of thing becomes an unspoken
corporate policy, which the mail I received implies is true for this
particular company.

Still, there's no really good place to point a finger.  Decisions can be
rationalized across the board.

> For my part, I'm proud to be a foreigner over here stealing your jobs
> and your women. ;)

>From what I hear about you Brits, it's not the women you're stealing ;-).

John




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