Re: [Marxism] Forwarded from Anthony (reply to Julio Huato)

[Les Schaffer <schaffer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jurriaan Bendien wrote:

> One theme in globalisation discourses is, that we should just forget about past
> injustices, and that we can now fly around the world into the future on hot
> air, and so on
>  

this comment reminded me of an article on "offshoring" i read earlier 
this morning in Electronic News, a journal that (so i am told) is THE 
newsletter for the electronics industry:

   
http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/article/CA425912?nid=2019&rid=190737819

   Electronic News: What works and what doesn’t in offshoring?

   Shastry: This is part of the free trade. Free trade means free
   movement of products and personnel. In order for a company to be
   viable, they have to get the best source. It just keeps moving. From
   Taiwan it went to China. From Europe it went to Eastern Europe. This
   is a productivity issue -- how do I get the most value out of the
   least investment. Now, because we have gone through this terrible
   recession, with the stock market dropping we have the phenomenon of
   jobs leaving the states. In 1985 to 1986, we were worried about the
   DRAM business going out of the Valley. Intel was about to go out as
   a DRAM company. Now they are the No. 1 semiconductor company. They
   figured out where they can add value. DRAM was becoming commodity.
   The mundane tasks tend to go. It’s not only mundane tasks, but this
   is the ebb and flow of the world economy.

   Electronic News: Are only the value-added or differentiated tasks going?

   <>Hoberman: The source for manufacturing or service is going to go
   to the lowest cost source in a free economy. In the opening of the
   world economy, the improvement in the communications infrastructure
   and the reduction in cost in global transportation is making it
   possible for what historically has been intellectually related goods
   and services to be sourced at lower cost. To the extent I can find
   an engineer who can design advanced circuits at less cost than I can
   do in San Jose, I’m going to that. The higher-paying rewards are
   going to go to the individuals or sources that can provide a value
   add than what someone else can provide.
   <>

<>

> Ultimately, every elite justifies its position and the existence of gross
> socio-economic inequalities either by some variant of saying "Im anfang war
> die Tat" (in the beginning was the deed) or by deferring moral questions in
> space and in time. This is perhaps the most abstract dualism of all
> dualisms, a dualism which concerns time and physical space itself.
>  

another variant is as above, announcing that Intel, after all, could 
survive the "ebb and flow" of the economy. meaning the owners and 
investors survived, though this is left unsaid.

and then of course is the hiding of the modern form of slavery in the 
concept of survival of the fittest:

   Electronic News: Is there a stigma to offshoring and how does that
   affect a company’s image?

   Hoberman: If you break away from the context of outsourcing, no one
   is saying the technology world in Silicon Valley is out of ideas and
   has nowhere else to grow. Wireless, networking, advanced consumer
   and media, the conversion of all of our media to digital electronics
   -- there are so many areas exploding in new technology. The impact
   of outsourcing is that it’s forcing engineers and managers who
   haven’t had to ask the question, ‘How do I make sure my career stays
   on line so I can continue enjoying the fruits of those opportunities
   as they develop in the market?’ In our move to Russia, it displaced
   some jobs in the company, and it has our employees here questioning
   what they need to do to remain a viable Silicon Valley worker. I
   think that’s the right question for them to ask.

the right question indeed. then there is this nifty piece of work:

   Shastry: I am measured on the performance of the company -- what’s
   the revenue, am I profitable. It all depends on how you do it. There
   is a question in the market of, ‘What are we going to do for our
   children?’ Are all the jobs going away? This concern was there 15 to
   20 years ago in the manufacturing segment. Silicon Valley has always
   turned around and the Valley is the most energetic place in the
   world. In the transition phase, people don’t know what’s going to
   end up there because this is a transition phase. 

does this qualify as "deferring moral questions in space and in time"?

several other themes appear in this type of article. when the good 
owners speak of the "ebb and flow" of the economy, this is meant to 
appeal to the realist in ourselves. we are taught in grade school that 
since time immemorial, floods, plagues and other natural conditions have 
caused our economic well being to endure ups and downs. so we need to 
grit our teeth and realize losing our job to a lower cost worker is just 
as natural. it can even strengthen us if we respond correctly, per our 
dear Mr Hoberman. and naturally we need not ask why some other worker 
has the important property of "lower cost". nor need we inquire into 
what the theoretical dynamics of the property of "lower cost" might look 
like. we can safely assume such a property is as natural as a cool day 
in summer. as Owner Sastry comments above: "It just keeps moving". One 
has the feeling we are watching God in action, in all his splendor.

les schaffer



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