Wipro's Azim Premji - 'The man who wants to take your jobs'

[smallm at panix.com (Mike Small)]

On Mon, Mar 22, 2004 at 11:07:37AM -0500, Bob George wrote:
> Gina Minks wrote:
> 
> >[...] Actually, the government's job is to aim for full employment of
> > the American people. There are already rules in place to force these
> > companies to play fair, but they are not being enforced.
> 
> That I agree with. But I don't the the goverment can "mandate" full
> employment, even as much as we'd like it to. That laws are not evenly
> enforced is not surprising, though certainly disappointing.
> 
> >And isn't it funny that the cost of labor is cheaper in companies 
> >that do not allow IT workers to strike, that do not enforce labor or 
> >safety standards upon companies. Isn't it funny that these companies 
> >can take  advantage of tax breaks from the US government, and then 
> >turn around and destroy the tax base by shipping jobs to another 
> >country?
> 
> That's the nonsense that gets me going. Companies brining IN labor with 
> the current market is shameful.

Why is it shameful?  This is the part of the argument I don't quite 
get (granted, I'm not an American and have a strong aversion to 
nationalism).  Is it shameful if someone hires someone from Idaho 
when someone from Massachussetts could have done the job?  On the 
other hand is it shameful of the Idaho hire to leave Idaho without
working long enough to pay back the taxpayers who paid for his or her
public schooling?

I understand the concern - it would be nice to be assured a living
programming for the foreseeable futue - it's a fun way to make your
money.  So if someone came along and made some kind of law to keep
computer jobs in the U.S. somehow, that would be fine by me, as I'd like
to stay in this business and in this country a little longer.  Do we
who live here (or you who were born here) somehow deserve this special 
treatment?  I don't know.  Seems like the only difference between 
corporations lobbying for things to work in their favour and workers 
doing it, in this case, is how widely the booty is spread around.  Either 
way we're talking about one group of people pushing their 
interests at the expense of another group.

- Mike