People Are People, So Why Should It Be? You And I Should Get Along So Awfully...

Well, this is a blog, right? And we all know what blog really means: a safe place for people to rant. It seems as though my time has come. Now, I don't really view this as a rant, more of something I would love to start an indepth debate/conversation about. Alright, now that the preface is done, let's get into the good stuff.
As I was surfing the limitless void that is Blogspot, I came across the blog a of former Science teacher (whom I greatly respect, and thus, had to read the opinion of). He had an article concerning the issue of Outsourcing. The interesting part was that he gave a rather human view to a extremely dehumanized topic. Here's what he had to say:

So, after I have calmed down a little, I talked to my wife. (Go figure, I have time to do that when I am also doing this stuff.) We talked about how and if the world is becoming "flat." She works for a health care company in an after-hours clinic (nice since I work days and can then hang with my daughter). Sometimes she needs to consult an "expert" like an orthopedic doctor. The other night she said there was a call for a consult and the person on the other end had a strange accent and lots of noise during the phone call. It seems that the "after-hours" consult call went to an orthopedic doctor in New Zealand! Since it was the daytime there the doctor was "in." The x-ray was sent via e-mail and the doctor looked at the film and decided there was a break. She could not believe that the help came from that far away. The two of us are now talking about what this means for our children (yes, there will be another soon) and for the students that I teach. We do not think that this type of outsourcing is a "bad" idea and I am wondering what other people think?

Seems like a perfect reason to encourage global outsourcing. It helps everyone in need. The patient gets aid, the doctor gets work, and the clinician gets her job done effeciently. These are the scenarios that should be reported more. Instead we get the humdrum of blatently biased and depressing news. As a comment to the post, another teacher gave his take on the situation.

Despite my impeccable liberal credentials, I think outsourcing is just fine (with a couple of caveats that I will explain in a moment). My opinion has always been that people are people - just because someone was born American doesn't make them better or more deserving than someone born in India or China. So when folks object to outsourcing by talking about "American jobs," I cringe. Yes, I live in America. And yes, I think our way of government is the best we've discovered so far. And yes, I would like Americans - especially my wife and I and eventually our daughter - to have good jobs. But that doesn't mean that folks in India and China don't deserve good jobs as well.My concern over outsourcing is simply are we giving our students (children) the skills/knowledge/habits of mind they need to be successful and happy in the 21st century? This project we are involved in is probably a direct result of that. So, the two caveats about outsourcing are these. One, I think we need to do a better job of re-training workers whose jobs are outsourced so that they can move into other fulfilling and economically viable jobs. Two, I believe that companies that outsource need to make sure that they provide safe working conditions and a livable wage in the countries they outsource to. As long as those two things are happening, I believe outsourcing - in addition to being inevitable - is actually good for the human race.

I definitely agree with most of this reply. To start off, the poster is absolutely correct in saying that outsourcing is the inevitable future. Whether it will be better for the economy or worse is something I cannot say. I'll leave that to future historians and present corporations. After all, corporations are the drive of this entire issue. Which is why I believe that the second caveat in the posters comment will never occur. If a corporation spends money making sure that the workers in other countries have job "quality" (read: conditions, pay, etc.), the corporation will lose the money it was trying gain by outsourcing the job in the first place. No corporation will ever do this. They would be better off just keeping or hiring employees in this country and save on long distance calls and shipping supplies and the like. It is an unfortuante circumstance, but the parties in question (corporations and foreign [probably formerly third-world] countries) are not the most moral of parties. Speaking of foreign countries, therein lies another problem. These countries are aware of the dispicable working conditions of some of their companies. And because of this, there is not a whole lot that the Good Ole' US of A can do about it. Let's not get ourselves into another war now. But I digress.... The first caveat seems like the best solution, however it is just not practical. Who would train these now workless workers? Their former companies will never spend money helping former employees. Prospective companies? There are no such things unless you have the qualifications. The Government? What department would that fall under? Besides, the government is already spending outrageous amounts of money on who-knows-what, let's try to solve our defecit spending problems before we spend some more. But hey, other than that, I totally agree.

Now I know what you are thinking. "Great, another typical blogger. Complaints without solutions." That would be where you are wrong. Interestingly, this "problem" has no "solution". As previously stated, corporations are the driving force behind outsourcing. Thus, the only reason they will stay in this venture is if it produces a signifigant profit. If outsourcing produces a decent yeild, corporations will stick to it, and if customers accept it, then it won't end. Even if the government tries to ban, slow, or regulate it. Corporations aren't exactly keen on listening to the Feds. Enron, anyone? If customers begin to reject outsourcing, then it will die off. Simply because the corporations will lose money. As unfortunate as it is, outsourcing is not a human issue, it's a currency issue.

Mein Gott, that was quite the post. I do believe I rubbed my fingerprints off. With this I'll leave it open to discussion. I would love to hear your view. And please correct me if I am wrong about anything. Or if my opinion is just wrong. Let me know.

Thanks very much to the two teachers involved in this. Once again, I am not trying to say anyone is wrong or to offend anyone. This is just a very interesting topic of discussion and I would love to hear what others have to say.

P.S. I was listening to Depeche Mode while writing this. (Don't know what I am talking about? Google the title.)