Debate: With great power comes great responsability

[Kaftan Barlast]

Botswana is hardly the peachy place you make it out to be, they still have massive poverty and starvation http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36171

 

 

Outsourcing abroad is one of the most significant threats to the economic well-being of western nations. As companies move production to third world countires (and administration to the usual intenational grey area) unemployment skyrockets causing a massive drop in consumption, which is bad for bussiness, and taxes which is bad for both goverment and people. Some people do find employment elsewhere, but there is no way everyone can be reabsorbed into the job market. My home town was turned into a virtual ghost town once the two major employers moved abroad, and that happens all over the world.

 

The effect in the exploited countries is perhaps even worse, they raise the standard of living and when they leave they pull the rug from out under society causing a complete collapse of society.

 

From a longterm perspective, outsourcing will eventually cause a severe economic crisis as there are no longer enough people working to be able to consume enough products. Although its more likely we will se a collapse before then as goverments are no longer able to manage the increasing unemployment. And at that time, people like LoF will grab their pitchforks and party like its 1789 again

[Wrath of Dagon]

You mean peachy place Wikipedia made it out to be. They've started as one of the poorest countries of the world, and are improving rapidly, growing faster than even the Asian countries. What else do you want? You think you can just wave a magic wand and make everything great overnight?

 

As far as your other theories, do you have any historical evidence to back them up? OK, your town is a virtual ghost town, but what's the overall rate of unemployment in your country? You think no towns have ever disappeared before? Conditions change, and everyone has to adapt, it's always been that way and always will be.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Mighty philosophical of you.

[Walsingham]

I've read what WoD linked to, and it seems both the BBC and my friends have mislead me. I concede the point, and apologise for being wrong.

 

 

They indicated that manufacturers had come into the country and paid low wages with promises of increases to come, then literally overnight they disappeared. So I guess that could be true, but the country as a whole is in good shape.

 

But then, as this link suggests, manufacturing is only about 5% of GDP.

[alanschu]

There certainly are issues of foreign investment into foreign regions that don't make the situation seem all rosy.

 

I don't like a lot of the restrictions that the WB and IMF put on countries in order to receive aid, among other things. And it is possible for people to be worse off after the foreign businesses come.

 

That said, it isn't all bad either.

Edited November 16, 2009 by alanschu

[Walsingham]

Slightly cheap shot, but still relevant: Kaft, have you ever laid anyone off?

[Zoraptor]

Africa overall actually has a lower standard of living now than it had fifty years ago.

[Walsingham]

Africa overall actually has a lower standard of living now than it had fifty years ago.

 

I don't know if that's true, but given the colossal wars constantly going on all the time, plus the HIV pandemic, I wouldn't be surprised.

[Zoraptor]

It was from the Beeb, so...

 

From memory, HIV (and population growth problems, like famine) were the largest negative factors.