[Marxism] RE: Down-Sourcing

[Chris Brady <cdbrady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

to follow José?s line of thought,
the social context of down-sourcing inputs
could just as well occasion cultural, and perhaps political and economic
subversion.
Imagine top brass accepts what they pass off as peripheral appurtenances
inherent to the cheaper labour (of the periphery).  In their drive for
the bottom line, and in their arrogance, they dismiss the cultural
aspects of that labour force?s milieu as so much fluff, that is
superficial tastes in clothing and food.  In so doing, they completely
overlook the intrinsic thought and significance (semiotic) differences
characteristic of different languages, cultures, physical places, etc.
But they are trapped.  They?ve already down-sourced.  They have
committed.  It would cost way too much to go back and up-source.
Ultimately, as that article hints by noting that best-skilled workers
must mentor their cheaper replacements, the big move will have to
complement the inline integration of the new ways of labour as a package
deal.

I would shy away from underestimation of Asian production capabilities.
The US fell for Japanese ?inferiority? (?Made in Japan? once meant cheap
and shoddy) only to experience a flood of advanced merchandise at more
than competitive prices.  The production capacity of India and China is
factors greater than Japan?  We may be on the threshold of a
polarization shift of capital.  And we should have no ethical position
or moral judgments to pass on who rules capital, because that is a
bourgeois conceit.  Capital will rule, not the other way around.

I hope I don?t sound like a cheerleader of globalization, like some
?Heighten the Contradictions? kind of ultra-leftist, but this
down-sourcing will be accompanied by an internationalization of labour
sensibility?if labour has any sense?  That?s our silver lining.



_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism