Globalization

In the video for week 2 there was a particularly interesting one on globalization. In the beginning, it mentioned how droves of people protest and are against sweat shop labor in other countries and so on and so forth. Its funny because for a while I always thought of myself to be one of those people. About a year ago I saw a piece on one of those news shows (like 20/20 or Dateline..I can't recall exactly which one it was) on how people in places like Sri Lanka and Vietnam where all the big factories are going think all of us are, to put it bluntly, stupid. As noted in this video, yes these factories are only paying the workers far less than what any factory workers in the US would receive. Practically dollars a day. However, in comparing the amount that they would have earned in another factory, this is apparently far more. So in a sense, these factories coming in these poor countries is a good thing. Because these foreign factories are paying more than the ones established in the region, it drives up the overall rates of factory workers in all factories. This is definitely good. However, I still am a bit uncomfortable with this. The rates begin to grow, and the foreign factories leave so they can set up shop in another country with cheaper rate. Thus, the thousands of employees that big companies like Nike employs all of a sudden find themselves without a job. Conversely, the corporation has now moved in a more poor region and thus helps build the new country up economically. I can see the pros and cons of both sides, but I think there needs to be some sort of ethical stipulation to these corporations before they come in and set up shop. They need to not only guarantee the better wages in respect to the country's wages, but also other benefits (i.e. health and at the very least a good severance package when the company closes to allow these people to go on until they could find another job).

This is also leads me to think about, as Americans we always complain about outsourcing -- all our jobs are going overseas. The truth is, America can no longer be a country of factories. We need to, as Dr. Shahi has stated, evolve and be innovative. If we are to survive as a global power, we need to put more money into our schools, ensure that every child has a good education. America's elementary school system is failing in many states. If we don't encourage the young minds of our nation, we have no hope but to fall fast and hard.