This discussion really can't continue much farther without becoming political
(Occupy S Scale?), but I think Rapido (Jason Shron) is just now discovering
what many of the rest of us discovered almost two years ago when Sanda Kan sent
out letters of termination to many US model RR companies. I suspect the real
culprit here is not so much the rising wages of the workers doing the actual
assembly work, who are still mostly children being paid slave wages, but the
greed of the upper and middle managers who are the ones who see and recognize
the wage differences between the world's different economies. Look at what has
been coming to light recently about Apple computer products as described by
Mike Daisey in his theatrical monologue, "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve
Jobs". A similar thing has also been happening here in this country, where we
have all witnessed the decrease in the wealth of the middle class, while at the
same time the upper class has become disproportionately more wealthy.
The increase in the cost of petroleum based materials is going to be a problem
no matter where the products are produced, China, India, or the US, but the big
difference will be determined by the environmental regulations of the host
country. China is beginning to see that it must not allow it's environment to
continue to suffer as much as it has in the past, and is going to be adding
clean environment costs to manufacturing & export prices, which can only drive
prices up even more.
Just bringing manufacturing and production back to the US will not solve
everything, although it sounds like a good start. What we really need to see is
a move away from our present "instant gratification" and "consumer of
disposable goods" society to one that is more realistic and sustainable.
Bill in FL
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