In a message dated 30/10/2002 15:38:51 GMT Standard Time, Brenda writes: << I know there are people who would vehemently disagree with me, but I think "Made In The USA" is a relic for a time that has long past. We Americans greatly benefit from the global economy that is largely our making. We shouldn't have a problem with buying goods that were made somewhere else because by doing so, we are playing our role in this system we've created (by proxy through our government, the companies we support when we buy their stock, etc.). >>
Americans (and Brits for that matter) may be benefiting from globalisation of this type (eg cheaper clothes); however, you/we are also losing out big time: when company CEOs decide to relocate to Malaysia or Thailand (in order that the company can make even bigger profits so the bosses can afford a bigger house in the Hamptons/Totteridge and Whetstone), factories close down; a large percentage of a town's employment can be tied up (directly or indirectly) in one big employer - it's like pulling the plug on a community. For a while it looked as if the newer sectors would take up some of the slack: if the widget factory closes down, retrain, get IT literate, or work in a call centre maybe (not great work, but can be reasonably well paid, not too demanding physically, better than nothing). Sadly, this is a forlorn hope, as even these types of jobs are being farmed out to the third world (for UK, it tends to be India), where workers get paid far less than they would have to here, cutting the companies' costs in a big way. As someone else (Colin I think) has already pointed out, the consumers don't see any benefit from this, and the inhabitants of this notional town *certainly* don't. The workers in India may well benefit in the short term, but there's zilch job security, as the bosses will up sticks at a moment's notice if they find somewhere they can set up the help desks and call centres even more cheaply. One other thing: "Made In America" may be a legend that's fading, but it still has a strong symbolic clout. Certainly one of the mega clothing manufactureres thought it was important enough to hatch an extraordinary scam to mislead people into thinking that their products were indeed made in the USA. I don't remember the details, but it was reported in the Observer here, and I think Naomi Klein also mentions it in No Logo. It went something like this: The company (let's call them Nidigap) bought an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, built a factory on it and imported loads of drone workers from the Far East to do the usual intensive/sweatshop thang. To all intents and purposes, the factory may as well have been on the outskirts of Manila. But Nidigap were able to put "Made in the USA" on the labels because they had bought the island, and, like, they're American, so, well, that's alright then. I apologise for being so hazy on the specifics, but the bare bones of this are true, even though it looks like something you'd read about in The Onion. There are plenty of people who believe globalisation is good for everyone. I don't buy it (so to speak). Azeem in London
