| Topic Name: |
Krakow, Poland |
| Message Name: |
Loyalty is Relative |
| Date Posted: |
03/08/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
None whatsoever huh? No sense of economic nationalism? You think all business ever should be about is making money for selfish you regardless of any social consequences for your country? You owe your country nothing I guess?
You have no good reason to be loyal to America or consider what's best for other Americans?
No loyalty to the country that gave Ted Hewitt the opportunity to found the company in the first place?
No loyalty to the country that gave you your high school education. And maybe subsidized your college education?
No loyalty to the country that fostered the creation of the majority of Hewitt's clients?
No loyalty to the country that kept war out of your backyard so you could grow up all safe?
No loyalty to the country that paid you to open Hewitt offices in different states?
Well I guess you have the right to be an a** in America, which is what makes it great. But don't be surprised if a voter backlash puts some fair trade laws in place which cost you some money. You think INdia would be competitiveif their currency wasn't artificially low? You think their low currrency can last forever?
I hope no one is for protectionism, but why does free trade mean America is always taken advantage of? Why can foreign governments peg their currencies below free market values and suck jobs out of the USA? WHy can foreign governments protect their markets with 1001 tricks, but America gives away the whole farm every time? Because US politicians are corrupt and US voters aren't organized.
|
| Message: |
It's hard for me to see how Americans "deserve" work any more than anyone else simply on the basis of birthright.
I'm working in India right now -- as I write this -- and, although it's admittedly not as simplistic as I make it here for the sake of brevity, Indians are willing to work very hard to get better things for themselves and their families. If you want to compete with them, you have to be willing to work just as hard. And that's where the entitlement mentality/general complacency wears out its welcome.
Supported by a stable government and a good education, they are able to compete. Sure, eventually their lower-cost advantage will erode, but by that point, they plan to have made investments in infrastructure (both physical and institutional) that will allow the next generation to move further up the value chain.
With that said, I strongly agree that it's up to government to keep businesses honest and up to us to hold them accountable.
P.S. The "kept war out of your backyard" line had me rolling on the floor. Sad to see the politics of fear taking root.
|
|
