Subject:
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Re: Massive Layoffs At Lego (in Enfield, CT)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sat, 24 Jun 2006 01:22:33 GMT
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Viewed:
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3630 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Thomas Main wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Timothy Gould wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Thomas Main wrote:
I’m sick to death of this equation of manufacturing in poor countries being
eqivalent to slavery/evil/whatever. It is quite possible for a company to
employ people at a good local income in a country where the cost of living
is lower and still save money. There are various reasons why the local costs
may be lower including undervalued currency or other more complex reasons.
This isn’t to say that China does not use wage-slave labour and other
policies abhorrent to many but it isn’t to say that the only reason it is
cheaper because of this. In the case of the Czech Republic any sort of
wageslavery would be ILLEGAL and ENFORCED by European Union law (yes, they
are a member) so the argument is total rubbish.
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Fair enough - cost savings can be achieved. If all this new work resulted in
standards of living increasing in the countries the jobs were farmed out to -
wouldn’t the wages then have to rise to compensate? Then what would be the
long-term benefit of a company doing this? Or, more likely, the jobs do not
improve the local economies because the finished product has no relevance to
the place that makes it. It is simply a processing place.
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Yes the wages and costs would rise with time. The extra money generated in the
meanwhile can be used for internal job creation and raising of standards. If the
business costs become too high then the business can move to a new lower cost
location or choose to stay where it is if the increased sales from a globally
improving economy allow it.
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To take an example of how cost saving can be achieved without resulting in
wageslavery consider the farming out of film industry labour to Australia
and New Zealand.
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I think there is a moral difference here -- films and toys are luxury
industries. They are farmed out to places where they can be made more
cheaply, but those places already have a subsistence economy without those
industries. Taking people away from the farm or their suffering local
economies to make something for someone else exploits the local workforce
while at the same time keeping them from working for their own subsistence.
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I don’t consider it moral to force people into agriculture or subsistence
living. The average quality of life in China is improving. The average quality
of life in the Czech Republic is improving. The reason it is improving is that
there is investment in the countries creating employment and income for the
country and the people within the country.
Furthermore if you are really concerned about damage to the agricultural economy
I would suggest lobbying to have farm subsidies removed in the USA and EU which
do far more harm to developing countries than the jobs created in manufacturing
and industry.
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As I have stated before this immediate jump that China=slave labour is plain
and simple nationalism and protectionism (with a touch of racism thrown in)
dressed up in nice clothing for those who like to think they are otherwise.
I call bs.
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The situation in China is bad. There are tons of agricultural workers being
drawn to cities to eek out a living. There is a tiny upper class and the
workers, but virtually no middle class. A middle class is crucial for a
manufacturing economy -- the people making the goods also need to be able to
buy the goods and grow their own economies -- not just process junk for
foreign investing companies (who have no ineterest in the local conditions,
after all).
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I don’t know where you get this information but I think you’ll find that there
is a large (and growing) middle class in China. Who do you think internet
companies like Google and mobile telecom companies are targetting? They rely on
a large middle class population to survive. The ultrarich aren’t certainly
keeping Google afloat.
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I am sad that Lego is going this route. I am also sad that they are
basically slowly giving up their own manufacturing in favor of outsourcing
production. I just don’t believe a company that doesn’t make anything is
worth as much as a company that does (this goes for countries too -- every
country should have some ag, some manufacturing, and some information tech).
Balance.
--
Thomas Main
thomasmain@charter.net
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Balance is easy to talk about coming from a country with abundant land and raw
materials. Try balancing in Finland or Switzerland or China. It is sad the
American and Danish people are losing their jobs but I’d rather the money go to
someone who needs it more in China or the Czech Republic.
Tim
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Massive Layoffs At Lego (in Enfield, CT)
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| (...) Definitely China has a massive and booming middle class. the current generation of children are called the spoiled ones, because parents in the big cities (by law) are having only one child and giving them everything they didn't have while (...) (18 years ago, 28-Jun-06, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Massive Layoffs At Lego (in Enfield, CT)
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| (...) Fair enough - cost savings can be achieved. If all this new work resulted in standards of living increasing in the countries the jobs were farmed out to - wouldn't the wages then have to rise to compensate? Then what would be the long-term (...) (18 years ago, 24-Jun-06, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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