[ale] Indian outsourcing

[Eichler, Paula J.]

"So you're saying that if you can't stay in the IT industry and earn a 
similar wage you're just going to lay down and *die*?"

Of course not.  If I lost my job there are a few things that I have on the back burner to do.  All I am saying is that we are blythely telling people to place their education and career in the dumper and take what they can get cause they work cheep in India.  No concern for the lack of leadership we are getting from our elected representatives.  No attempt to keep our people employed productively as more jobs find their way outside the US.  We can't just do each other's nails and hair.

" You *can* "be whatever you set your mind to be", but no one *guarantees* 
you'll be able to make living doing it. No one has a right to a job, 
only the right to compete for a job without being discriminated against 
based on sex, race or religion."

Of course that's a semantic argument.  You have to make a living in America.  The point is, if American society only values "the market", than we are lying to our kids when we tell them that they can be whatever they want to be while letting jobs go overseas.  Not every kid born is destined to great things.  Some people will barely survive while others live in NY penthouse apartments.  Efforts to level the playing field have not been effective for whatever reason.

We are also lying to ourselves when we call this a great and prosperous nation while not caring if there are enough good jobs for people.

I used to think this way.  "Just find another job if the plant closes; move town if you have to."  I was na?ve at best.  All but low-end service industry jobs that have to be done onsite will be exported eventually ..pj


-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Stewart [mailto:astewart at layton-graphics.com] 
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 10:52 AM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] Indian outsourcing

Eichler, Paula J. wrote:

>This was pretty much what I was trying to say.  Changing directions and
>taking huge paycuts are not options for most IT workers.  Why do we
>simultaneously brag about living in "the greatest country in the world"
>and tell displaced IT workers "chuck your career and flip burgers, you
>have no right to a job"?  What makes us the greatest?  Yea we can blow
>shit up, but is that great?  No, it is (was) the idea that you can be
>whatever you set your mind to be.
>
>Again, it is not the Indians' problem.  They just solved a problem of
>their own.  Corporations are just doing what they have to do.  We need
>leadership from our President and Congress that we are not getting ..pj
>  
>
So you're saying that if you can't stay in the IT industry and earn a 
similar wage you're just going to lay down and *die*? That's not a 
productive attitude. If you're smart enough to do IT, you're smart 
enough to do something besides IT, and smart enough to live on a smaller 
wage if necessary. It may not be pleasant, but you do what you have to do.

You *can* "be whatever you set your mind to be", but no one *guarantees* 
you'll be able to make living doing it. No one has a right to a job, 
only the right to compete for a job without being discriminated against 
based on sex, race or religion.

Alan

---

D. Alan Stewart
Senior Software Developer
Layton Graphics, Inc.
155 Woolco Drive
Marietta, GA 30065
Voice: 770/973-4312
Fax: 800/367-8192
http://www.layton-graphics.com


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