MAQUILADORAS - The Corporate Quest for Cheap Labor

Good post - bookmark because I have nothing to add but it's interesting.

So, how does this differ from China, Indonesia, and Formosa?

I think I mentioned China in the post, didn't I Roger? It's not different, it's just another link in the chain.

The irony is in how these companies continue to move from labor market, to cheap labor market, to even cheaper labor market, ad infintum. They keep moving to labor markets that will allow longer hours, cheaper pay, fewer or no workers rights, and dangerous working conditions.

These are American companies, who are operating with a total lack of any social responsibility to those who work for them. They have truly lost anything which approaches moral fibre.

That aside, as our Corporate Structure continues to send jobs across the border, and across the oceans, just what do the American people think they are going do to for jobs? There are only so many executives that are needed, then what?

Another irony is the segment of the populace that blame immigration for all our problems. If we just slam those borders shut, everything will be perfect and all the problems will be solved. Bad news folks, the jobs are being exported, you don't have to worry about the immigrants coming here to get them.

I forgot to include the link for the article, which I will do here.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/27/MNGKPFUQ831.DTL

Enjoy!

More silliness from the "immigration is the problem" section.

Bush revives immigration reform push

"Bush joins several congressional Republicans in Congress, including several likely presidential candidates, who intend to make an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws a priority heading into the 2006 midterm elections.

"Illegal immigration is a serious challenge," Bush told a gathering of border enforcement officials in Tucson. "And our responsibility is clear. We are going to protect the border."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/29/MNGG3FVJVJ1.DTL

Should we send him a note and inform him that the horse is already out of the barn??

Poor baby is running short of issues to run on. Everything he is doing just turns to crap in his hands.

I think he's dwelling in an alternative reality.

Stevepax
Having painted a not so pretty but unfortunately true picture off the cliff over which US manufacturing is headed. And of the plight of the American worker. Is there anything that can be done to stop the inexorable slide. Or are we doomed to see this continue until wages worldwide reach equilibrium. And every worker will be living in "mud huts"

I've always held that education is the most important thing in our survival. It pains me that we have this crazy "No Child left Behind" program which is bogus. Not only is it underfunded, it's based on a Texas system (Houston I think) that turned out to have bogus results which were inflated at best. Now we have the entire nation working on it.

If you've been watching the plight of higher (college level) education, it has been reversed back to the fiftie's style opportunity where only the rich can afford it. Many states have watched their state education systems funding disappear. This is probably the most tragic aspect of our present situation.

We have to reverse the outflow of "intelligent jobs" going overseas. We need to get back into a creative, progressive mindset where we are going forward and not in reverse. Being undereducatied will be the ultimate downfall.

We in no way can work cheaper than the third world countries, and we need to realize that things like manufacturing are probably lost to us. The Corporations are not going to build new facilities here where labor costs, social resposibility, regulation, and a plethora of other "negative" aspects are present.

We need to determine the areas in which we are still ahead, or even, and use those to our advantage.

Bottom line, we need to be smarter, and better educated than the rest. We need to be the leaders in innovation and creativity, not spurning sclence and technology advances. The present administration is more interested in old technology and hanging on to the past. They have no desire to improve. I think they fear an educated populace because that would limit their control.

We're pretty screwed right now. I think we have to reinvigorate as a nation and make progress our goal. Education, progress, creativity, innovation, with a profound desire that we truly DON'T leave any child behind. Lip service won't do!!

This administration is now putting the nail in the coffin of higher education. They are cutting the funds for student loans. The funds are needed to finance tax cuts to the wealthy and to support the Iraqi fiasco. Higher education is fast becoming financially unreachable for the children of middle income Americans.

This administration is putting the nail in the coffin of America itself. They are indebting posterity while giving them no means to repay. They are however setting the rich up so they will reap the benefits of having what boils down to a slave class.

bm

Very interesting reading, Stevepax. Please continue.

Almost as if on request, here is an article published this morning in the SF Chronicle. It reinforces what I am saying about the squeeze on the funding of upper education because of budget cutbacks. It goes into what the consequences are of ignoring this most important element of education.

CALIFORNIA
State is urged to spend more on higher education
Study suggests that in the long run, it would actually save taxpayers money


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/01/BAG23G12MS1.DTL

In my mind, it goes a lot deeper than just saving taxpayer money though. I think that if we hope to survive in a world of cheap labor, we better be smarter and better educated than the rest of the woirld. I keep hearing my mother say "Knowledge is Power". I've never forgotten that addage!

Wait till robots are more intelligent andversatile then all will be vulnerable.

Mark