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I see this week there is some outrage offshore over the new stimulus bill, specifically the part relating to the H-1B visas that have allowed foreign workers to come to the US, illustrated nicely in this article on India Times–and especially in the ensuing comments. Of course, many of these visas have gone to Indian engineers, IT specialists, and medical professionals, creating a very powerful subculture (both here and there) . The threat of losing these visas has many angry at the US. As our new President has indicated, there are still more important changes coming that may well impact us more directly, depending on specifics. Just off the top of my (admittedly lazy) head, I believe at the very least, companies that offshore will lose certain tax breaks, and though they certainly won’t try to clamp down outright on firms that already have substantial offshore investments, I’m betting they will figure out a way to discourage any from moving more of their workforce away.
Those MTs who remember the resentment over the last decade or so about the loss of our jobs offshore and the resultant impact (all bad) on our wages are sensing a little irony here. We were admonished on the realities of globalization when our jobs filtered offshore, but now when someone threatens to bring jobs back, it’s protectionism? I can’t help but wonder if they’d see this in a little different light if they were talking about Indian jobs going to Chinese workers willing to work for a fraction of their wages. . .
I have to admit that I can see the rationale for globalization. A most fascinating demonstration of how that works correctly is evident in a game devised by Buckminster Fuller (creator of the geodesic dome), called the World Game, which is kind of the antithesis to the war game, Risk. Players (anyone from grade school kids to corporate bigwigs) represent countries, corporations, human interest organizations, etc., and are given unique resources and assets. In the ensuing hours, players trade their assets and quickly learn that it is possible to remain competitive AND profit if everyone cooperates. Greed may make for short-term profit, but it’s necessary to factor in public opinion and mutual benefit for long-term successes. In the end, everyone compares notes and realizes that friendly cooperation makes for the most profits all around, to say nothing of world harmony. (Cue sunshine and daisies.)
Of course, communism works well in theory, too. The problem is that human nature tends to ruin things, especially when greed, profit, and personal gain manage to dominate as they have in the last two to three decades, which have been all about corporate profit and not at all about equity, and the entire world economy has reached the breaking point. The sweeping changes that threaten to rock our world are simultaneously frightening and exciting, and may well test the sensibilities borne of the Boomer generation. Can peace, love, and harmony really defeat the “evil axis” of world bankers, corporations, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and the insurance industries? Close to home, will a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” once again become something more than lip service?
Obviously, we’re running on hope here. I think there is still room for globalization and mutual benefit, but not at breakneck speed for the benefit of the elite few at the expense of the rest of us. If you go back to the feedback from this article, there is as much understanding as there is anger. Some are crying for a boycott of US companies overseas, which I think is just fine because face it–McDonald’s, KFC, and Coca-Cola haven’t added much to world culture as they have served to homogenize and dilute it. In emulating America, many countries seem to have lost sight of what makes them unique and worth preserving. I find many replies to this article especially insightful, like the one who suggests it’s silly to expect the US to offer jobs to foreign workers whilst Americans sit around jobless and homeless, advocating logic because, “No one will share his food with an outsider if his family is starving.”
Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg and the effects of the stimulus package and more specific measures to undo the damage offshoring has caused are more likely to impact us personally. It will be interesting to see the long-term effects on wages now that MT wages have been driven so low that many of us can’t even afford to stay in the field even if we can find jobs and few people are willing to consider entering the field given its dim prospects. The law of supply and demand would indicate that wages should go up, but now that speech recognition has replaced the offshore MT as our biggest nemesis, I’m not holding my breath.
“Interesting” times indeed.
Patient Consent Gets New Meaning
