What good is Museveni's "best" education if he can not make the AK47, etc?? Who ever manufactures the AK47, etc controlls who uses it. Supplies of the AK47 can go out any time. If Mu7 is to talk big, maybe he should start up a weaponary manufacturing industry in Uganda. Then, maybe he can clap his jaws to sensible people.
Y Yaobang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Y Yaobang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>From: "Mitayo Potosi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: undisclosed-recipients: ; >Subject: ugnet_: The Dark Side of the Outsourcing Revolution >Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 02:27:06 +0000 > >The Outsourcing Revolution. >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >India now produces 60% more engineers and scientists than the USA. >And what scares the shit out of the USA is that they are even >smarter. > >Over 7 years ago we were crying here on this net, to Hon J NKuuhe >and our very beloved Higher Education Minister, Hon Dr Abel >Rwendeire, to change/overhaul Uganda's curricula. > >i.e. > >1. Introduce Triple Maths in all schools - including 'Discrete >Maths'. > >2. Throw away the old crazy Biology where teaching was that "a tree >consists of three parts: the leaves, the stem and the roots", and >replace it with a new Biology that prepares students for the new >world of molecular Biology. > >3. Introduce basic computer science. > >4. Get the whole country, from m7 downwards to zero in on this >National effort. > >I sent them Canadian up-to-date syllabi for Maths, Bio, Comp Sc, >etc.... to compare with. I even sent some to Teachers' college - >Kyambogo. > >But the Church/Mosque wanted more timetable slots for religion >instead. They made Hon Rwendeire a political liability to m7, and he >was moved from Education to Industry. > >Now we hear Uganda is banking on sending all her children to go >abroad to wash latrines - 'kyeyo'. > >As was mentioned then, with an exceptionally trained workforce, tons >of jobs and billions of $ will always flow to Uganda. It is still >true today. > >Maybe it is time to take stock and see how we are doing!! > >Mitayo Potosi >____________________________________________________ >____________________________________________________ > >The Dark Side of the Outsourcing Revolution > >By Naeem Mohaiemen, AlterNet >January 25, 2004 > >Two years ago, I lost my credit card on a trip. Dialing the American >Express 800 number, I asked the polite customer rep to read the list >of recent charges. As she went through each charge, I noticed >something familiar about the way she said words like "Duane Reade" >and "Blockbuster." > >"Excuse me," I interrupted. "Where are you?" > >"Oh, we're the American Express Call Center in Bangalore, India," >she replied. > >Over the coming months, I started noticing this phenomenon more >often. When I called AOL trying to cancel my account for the fifth >time, the helpful woman giving instructions was in India. Palm >Pilot's "Level 1" help desk seemed to be in America, but when they >were stymied and bumped me to "Level 2," an unmistakably Indian >voice came on. Recently, I even started getting sales calls hawking >credit cards from India. > >A few months back, a new pattern began to emerge. Suddenly, the >customer service reps weren't eager to divulge where they were from. >"Oh, we're not allowed to disclose location," said one nervous >voice. It was very cloak and dagger. Maybe it's some new security >measure, I thought to myself. > >Then the New York Times article, titled "We're From Bangalore (But >We're Not Allowed To Tell You)" revealed all. Indian call centers >now had to acquire American accents and generic Anglo names, >displaying a new-found nervousness in the face of an incipient >backlash: Dell was closing its Indian call center in the face of >protests; New Jersey was trying to pass a bill blocking outsourcing >to India; and an angry Indiana politician huffed, "I represent >Indiana, not India!" > >All Roads Lead to India > >India is at the red-hot center of the Outsourcing Revolution. Thirty >percent of all new Information Technology (IT) work for U.S. >companies is now done abroad, mostly in India. McKinsey Consulting >estimated that three countries received $20 billion in outsourcing >revenue from the U.S. in 2002: Ireland ($8.3 billion), India ($7.7 >billion) and Canada ($3.7 billion). Analysts forecast that by 2008 >Indian IT services and back-office support will grow to a $57 >billion a year industry with four million workers. > >International multinationals have had offices in India for almost a >decade, and they include Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Intel, IBM, >Cisco, Motorola, HP, Oracle, Yahoo, Ernst & Young, HSBC, and, of >course, the trailblazer in "discovering" India, Microsoft. But >Indian offices whose main business is outsourced work from the U.S. >are a relatively new phenomenon. Recent high profile firms include >MphasiS, which processed tax returns of 20,000 Americans this year >(analysts predict that 200,000 U.S. tax returns will be processed in >India next year). Then there is OfficeTiger, which employs 1,200 >people to do research and analysis for eight Wall Street firms. >Finally, GE Capital's four Indian centers design statistical models, >prepare data for GE annual reports, write software, and process $35 >billion of global invoices > >India dominates outsourced IT, accounting and financial services. >Ambitious firms have now expanded to food-stamp paperwork, auto >engineering, drug research, airline industry and work for the U.S. >Postal Service. India has two key strengths: hundreds of thousands >of technology graduates each year and the use of English at all >stages of education. Armed with this combination, India's potential >is huge as knowledge-based service work expands. China dominates in >manufacturing, which is only 14 percent of the U.S. economy. By >contrast, the service industry, where India has laid its stake, >makes up 60 percent of the U.S. economy. > >White Collar Labor Wars > >Of course U.S. firms are not outsourcing work out of benevolent >desire to help Indian workers. These new moves come in an >ever-expanding desire to cut costs and increase profit margins. The >stage is set for a struggle between western and Asian white-collar >labor. Just as the success of H-1B visa workers during the Internet >boom led to an anti-immigrant backlash, the outsourcing revolution >faces its own pushback. > >Critics argue that every time a project is outsourced, jobs are lost >in the United States. Estimates vary from a projected loss of >600,000 jobs by 2005 (Forrester Research) to 2 million by 2008 >(Deloitte). But it is also impossible to calculate how much of these >job losses are also an effect of the overall recession. > >As anger builds over claims of lost jobs, American unions have >emerged as aggressive opponents of outsourcing, and their rhetoric >often displays thinly disguised xenophobia. Even inside the U.S., >unions create their own hegemonies, often leaving >immigrant-dominated industries out in the cold. When it comes to a >globalized labor market, "workers of the world unite" is not their >motto. TechsUnite.org (CA), Alliance of Technology Workers (WA) and >Rescue American Jobs have all been pushing politicians to pass "Buy >American" legislation to limit federal agencies from sending jobs >overseas. In New Jersey and Indiana, bills to outlaw shifting state >jobs overseas were narrowly defeated. Maryland, Michigan and North >Carolina are planning similar legal battles in the future. Incessant >complaints about "bad service" and "strange accents" forced Dell >Computers to shut down one of its call centers in India, >representing a major victory for the "America First" lobby. > >A Dilemma for the Left > >The traditional left has been caught off-guard by the outsourcing >debate. It is very hard to make the argument that Indians are being >exploited. Studies show that jobs in outsourcing firms are some of >the most highly sought-after, and often pay much more than jobs >servicing the local economy. There is still a knee-jerk reaction >among Indians, reflected in editorials that deride these workers as >"cyber-coolies." > >But does that jargon apply everywhere? As hordes of freshly minted >IIT graduates put on their starched white shirts, or crisp >salwar-kameez, and march into brand-new "cyberpark" offices in >Bangalore, are they really anybody's "coolies?" > >Not everyone accepts the unions' arguments. In England, George >Monbiot in the Guardian applauded the irony of the new power >structure: "Britain's empire is striking back. Former colonies have >found a silver lining in the bitter legacy of conquest: English, the >language of former masters, is a competitive advantage in the global >economy." After Norwich Union sent one of their centers overseas, a >spirited debate erupted on the BBC website. From London, Theresa Law >wrote, "Give me an intelligent, well-educated, polite Indian on the >end of a telephone handling my customer queries, over an ignorant, >rude, unhelpful and unwilling British call handler any day!" In >reply to numerous e-mails about "stolen jobs," Henry wrote, "What a >breathtaking display of economic illiteracy and downright racism. >Why shouldn't people in India have a crack at earning a decent >living if they can do it more effectively than can be done in the >UK?" > >Outsourcing is an incredibly complex economic and ethical issue, >with winners and losers on both sides. Yes, why shouldn't Indians >(and by extension, my native Bangladesh) have a chance to improve >their living standards through hard work? On the other hand, as >thousands of jobs are lost in the West during the present recession, >much of the blame will fall on outsourcing. But free trade means the >flow goes both ways. If the West demands open access to global >markets for its exports, doesn't the Third World have the right to >demand free access to labor markets? > >Finally, the unions need to make the connection between outlandish >CEO salaries and lost jobs. Outsourcing is not the only reason for >all worker woes. To take one recent example, if Boeing were to ever >open a factory in India, many would scream about "lost jobs." But >aren't far more jobs going to be lost to cover the damage from the >Pentagon contract kickback scandal, which has already led to the >resignation of Boeing's CEO? > >The Human Face of a Global Economy? > >In this ongoing debate, a startling new entry is a multimedia >theater piece "Alladeen," now touring the U.S. after a successful >run in England. Produced by England's Motiroti and multimedia >wizards Builders Association, the play is an antidote to media >stories about faceless Indians taking jobs away. > >Call centers are the Ground Zero of the outsourcing debate. Because >western customers have to interact directly with an operator in >India, all of the coded racism, and anxieties come boiling to the >surface. In previous recessions, similar misdirected hostilities >targeted H-1B visas, green card holders and other shades of new >immigrants. But because the targets were inside the country and able >to lobby for their own rights, demonizing was not easy (witness the >death of California's Prop. 187). > >In this new battle, the targets are in a distant high-tech call >center � which makes it much easier to scapegoat and destroy. There >is a subtle interplay of racism in this whole debate. Would >outsourcing be a political hot potato if the jobs were going to >Norway, Israel or Portugal? In fact, no one complains about job loss >to Ireland, even though it is the global leader in outsourcing. > >"Alladeen" tackles this issue head-on. Through a combination of >actors, simultaneous video displays, computer screens and taped >video footage from a real-life Indian call center, the play breaks >through the clutter of economic and ideological debates. Finally, >the anonymous Indian at the far-away call center is given a voice, a >name and a life. We see what is created, and also what is lost. > >Alternating skillfully between documentary footage and >re-enactments, "Alladeen" takes the audience through the life cycle >of a call center. We start with the training sessions, where eager >Indian graduates are told to neutralize "mother tongue influence." A >white supervisor explains that Indians always say "w" for "v" and >then patronizingly adds to one candidate, "There's no extra marks >for going fast. I'm not going to give you a chocolate bar." Just as >Indians rote-memorize scientific facts in high school, these >trainees memorize city names, to "switch on and off" American >accents and learn cultural facts ("potatoes are important in >Montana"). Overhead projectors are used to explore football ("the >pork skin"), baseball ("a model of sacrifice") and TV shows that tap >into the zeitgeist of a city ("Ally McBeal" for Chicago, 'Buffy' for >California and 'Friends' for New York). > >Later, each freshly minted trainee will channel their favorite >"Friends" character. But are they creating an illusion for the >caller, or living in a dream world of their own? One where they live >on "Central Perk West?" In this phase of cultural globalization, >"being American" is a job requirement � even if some "real" >Americans want nothing to do with you. > >As the trainees become more confident, they deal with stoned >callers, buck-naked pranksters and suspicious matrons. Internet >websites flash trivia about the callers' hometown, and eagle-eyed >supervisors monitor every call � all is perfectly calibrated to give >the caller the impression they are dialing their neighborhood call >center, and talking to a cheerful Phoebe, Monica or Chandler. > >But all contradictions are laid bare when "Phoebe" receives a call >from an Indian-American from Redwood City. Even though she >recognizes a fellow Indian, protocol demands that she lie and say >"I'm in New York City." Discovering that the man is a software >engineer, Phoebe tries to ask him about life in America. > >Disguised half-questions are blurted out in the tiny window of >opportunity before the call ends. Finally, desperately trying to >semaphore her own situation, Phoebe blurts out, "But is it easy >there? I mean what if you were Indian?" > >"My dear!" comes the puzzled reply, "I am Indian!" > >Alladeen's most poignant moments are in two real-life documentary >clips. In one segment, the Bangalore call center operators are >asked, if they had one wish, what would it be. The answers come >rushing out: To be "handsome," "rich," "five inches taller," >"married." But one exhausted operator, who talks earlier about the >grind of the midnight shift, can only look at the camera and say, "I >wish this were a nine-six shift!" > >In the other segment, an operator named Aarthi Angelo talks about >the endless quest to hide Indian accents: "People are so sensitive >to accents. Especially after the World Trade Center incident, people >started asking me, are you Muslim? You know, we've been taught to >transcend barriers of caste and religion. But here we had to answer >that question." Then after a pause, she adds, "Even Muslims had to >say, no we're not Muslims!" > >Outsourcing will continue to be debated at union meetings, political >rallies, Senate chambers, Fortune 500 seminars and journal pages. >Yet, Alladeen succeeds in painting a picture that is often missing >from this debate over globalization. The show puts a human face on a >complex economic system, highlighting both the gain and loss for >each human player. > >The last word goes to Simon, another visitor to the BBC website: >"What we are seeing is capitalism working in a totally uneven >playing field and it will carry on until the playing field is evened >out. That is going to be a long and painful process and the world >simply isn't going to be able to support its entire population at >the standard of living we would like to continue to enjoy." > >Naeem Mohaiemen is a historian, media activist, and the editor of >Shobak, a magazine devoted to South Asian issues. Additional >research for this article was provided by Udayan Chattyopadhyay. > >Mitayo Potosi > >cc Ronald Kayanja - Aloppe, SyriaIn dictator Museveni's Uganda, the 'best' education is the military one -- how to use AK47, etc., at Kyankwazi!
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