(Very special thanks to the extraordinary and brilliant Pat MacDonald)
“In the interstellar desert there is a milky way bone man navigating a highway that does not exist. He speaks with a searing harmonica, setting the guitar lines on fire like the yellow breaks separating the highway at dusk as they pass in a rhythm of 33 and a 3rd, boot heels on the floorboards of a haunted car.”
...EXOTIC UNDERGROUND, Seattle
If the Russians Did This to Us, We'd Kill 'Em, Right?
“...Our national and private resources are being stripped bare. This country is being looted, and everything in it that isn't nailed down is being carted away and sold off.”
-David Michael Green
New York – What if we were invaded by Russians? This is the question Hofstra's David Michael Green asks in his pertinent, must-read essay If the Russians Did this to Us, We'd Kill 'Em that explores this war on America's educated white collar middle class via US government sanctioned outsourcing and importing cheap labor from India that yours truly has been writing about before the topic of white collar American cleansing becomes en vogue. Will the left finally start making white collar American job cleansing as sexy a political issue as WMD or Global Warming? Green wonders why Americans are not “angry” below:
“Our jobs, our industries and our community resources have been bundled up and exported to where the work can be done far cheaper, and the workers are compliant. Increasingly we are scrambling just to survive. Admittedly, our government remains absolutely dedicated to making sure that some of us do extremely well. It's just that that ‘some' doesn't include anyone you know.
What's astonishing about the moment that we live in is that we have been essentially invaded, we have been absolutely looted, and yet we don't seem to be the slightest bit angry about that.”
It's astonishing, alright. As LWOH readers know by now, corporate welfare whores and their media sycophants don't SHAKE WELL with yours truly. We've been invaded by sociopathic, neo-frat boy corporate welfare “best and brightest” monkey-business leaders with spreadsheets and derivatives aphrodisiacs whose bought and sold politico thugs with smiling faces and pseudo-sophisticated demeanors are deluding the lefty plebs, you know - the same ones who are supposed to be so smart -- with the false promise of immunity from the looting class elite. But what's MOST astonishing is the deft manipulation with which the media rolls out its diversion messages from toenail fungus to Afghan poppy pickers to distract the looted plebs. As they crank up the noise away from here to over there – and tug on the Achilles heel of compassion on the left, Americans watch their neighbors lose their jobs, homes and health care and dismiss it with an “oh, well, at least it isn't me” sentiment once reserved exclusively for Repubs and other insufferable wannabes.
Pantywaists.
Indeed, the most astonishing tools right now are not the distracting Vicks VapoRub clowns like Beck but the pseudo-cool media chasers who gate-keep these indefensible corporate welfare crooks 24/7 under the pseudo-guise of compassion and scramble for a place at the the nanny-stater teat with a warm spot at the trough in defense of their honor, flaunting their duplicity and shaking their money makers right on down this pole of a plundered Empire.
Speaking of Empire...Thank GOD for the real people like Chris Floyd (h/t Empire Burlesque) and Arthur Silber who deliver well-researched analysis on world affairs and have no time for such idiots and blowhards parading around the media/blogosphere. Most of all, for extraordinary artists and real-deal musicians like Pat MacDonald who remind us that once upon a time, when our future was so bright we had to wear shades, we had the soulful will to can the Man - we had some faith in looooove...
Can we do it again?
-2Truthy
P.S. A shout out to our old friend CC in Detroit – Pat MacDonald is playing Callahan's Oct. 8th.
9 comments:
I'm typically not able to interact with you because you're histrionic. Salt o' the earth, in a blunderbuss of rhetorical barrel-rolls. I guess you're made to blog. But i can share my views with your readers: the company where i work just laid off 18 people, all Americans. that's a lot for a company of 150 globally. I know that most of them were underperforming, which is cancer to a small company, and some were made redundant under a re-organization that seems to make sense to me. Then the CEO mentioned that one American, on average, costs as much as 8 Indians. I'm still employed. And not in some "dying star's last embers" sense. I'm still getting jobs, and doing them, and they are larger and harder due to globalization. My wage is no secret: Currently $42/hr. Been higher. Can I speak for myself yet, and my own white collar?
Does anyone pause to wonder: What if we, by whatever means necessary, prevented international employment in tech over the last 25 years? Would we even be interacting on Commodore 64's?
I know what Indian employees do for the company, and I don't want their jobs at all. But they have raised the value of our American enterprise. Where's the looting? You'll find it. Rhetorical LSD finds anything anywhere it chooses to look.
- mcfnord
McF:
You're in denial. Not the river, by the way. I'll give you this: you're a tuff coot. Nothin's going to get you down. I remember your screed about how you were still at Microsoft and that proved you were doing something right! I remember thinking how delusional you were. Then you got fired/layed-off. By your logic, that means that you DID SOMETHING WRONG! By my thinking, your just another innocent victim. Since I rejected your original "doing right" theory, from my perspective, you've done "nothing wrong." See how that works?
Back to the denial: you are making 1/2 of what your plumber or car mechanic is making (no degree required). Well, you still have your dignity. Guess what? Dignity is a FREE benefit of DENIAL. You exclaim: God and Adam Smith have endorsed free trade! (Actually, you should read Adam Smith. He was not a free trader--he has become the poster boy for a policy that he never endorsed, by assholes too illiterate to read what he wrote.)
And now you're making LESS than a plumber. But that's OK. "If we didn't have GLOBALIZATION, we would still be using Commador 64's". That's SO, SO, WRONG! Let's see. Intel processors. Hmm. Santa Clara, CA. Hmm. Windows. Seattle, WA. Oh. but it's the INDIANs that are all about innovation. HAR, HAR. The innovation is this: LISTEN CAREFULLY: Every building has four sides. Each side can have a door and sign on it: "Wipro" could be one; "Infosys" could be on the second "Satayam" on the third; and "Tata" on the fourth. How many people work in the building? Let's say 200. But they are sold 4x or 8x. Gee, an Indian makes 1/8 what an American makes? Guess what, that Indian is sold 4x or 8x times. He/she is billing 160 to 320 hours a week.
WAKE UP! INDIAN COMPANIES ARE NOT STUPID! THEY KNOW THE VALUE OF LOW BIDDING! AND THEY ARE LYING!
Oh, and as tootruthy alluded, you may have a big, big problem if you have kids. Right now the cost of a private college (anyone worth going to) is 50K/year. These schools have a POLICY of increasing tuition by 5% per year, regardless of inflation. Let's say you have two kids are going to college in 10 years. You're looking at 75K/year per kid. Hmm... Maybe you should look into plumbing...
Prezdumas
Howdy!
This purposeful "equaling" of societies and pay is intentional (I can't think of a better explanation).
I don't want to believe the "New World Order" shit, but dammit, give me a better explanation.
But it is all based upon lies and secret tax havens and the ability for an American owned and operated company to shut down and move over there: or worse, begin whittling away at our wages becasue the competitve wages are underfunded and keeping their people in poverty.
Is there any way you can put an RSS button up so that I can add you to my Google Reader feed? I have not been able to track you and I miss shit because I forget to log in.
Good stuff here.
HELP!
PS to Anonymous: how much does the CEO make? Seem worth it to you?
Well, well, well. Speaking of "histrionics" Mr. "mcfnord," your vituperative harangue smacks of a full-fledged hissy fit. There will be time later to have fun with your self-important tone, your "I'm such a good boy. I recycle. I wear my seat belt. I'm into diversity" routine, and your boastful announcement at bringing home 42 dollars an hour. For now, let's zoom in on one sentence in your last paragraph: "I know what Indian employees do for the company, and I don't want their jobs at all."
You sound like both candidates in our last presidential election who made excuses for the lazy sons and daughters of SUV-driving helicopter parents and praised to high heaven the Mexicans who come to the US to do jobs that, supposedly, Americans do not want to do. How dare you mock labor? Who are you to say there aren't a few dozen or a few hundred kids out of college willing to take that 42 dollar an hour job of yours?
You are just another loyal tool in the corporate swindle of America and the continuing loss of American jobs as stateless, mindless, boardroom decisions send manufacturing jobs overseas.
You are a depraved gadget who seeks approval through your lap dog antics at work and, quite possibly at home where the shrill voice of feminine angst wails a weepy scenario of male oppression and female victimization.
I've lived and worked in 8 countries on three continents for over 20 years. I know who foreigners are. And they are not culturally quaint beanie babies we can sit on our shelves and show off to our neighbors, they are prideful nations filled with strong, self-interested men--and I do mean MEN--flesh and blood strivers, movers and shakers who think NOTHING of crushing the diversity-loving crew in America, once they are finished using them.
Drop dead mcfnord--soon--and spare us and the rest of productive, innovative American society any more of your whinging, indecisive, relativistic claptrap.
The barbarians are at the gate, and you are handing them the keys.
You are the devil's own spawn.
Nevermind on the RSS button. I figured it out.
Ave, my countrymen! (Well, not McSnuffs - he's no countryman of mine.) Long time, no drop by, but delighted to see the home fires still burning!
Mr. Toast - superb rant! ("Depraved gadget". Excellent.) McSnuffs will end his days pushing a shopping cart of aluminum cans, ranting to nobody in particular on the street corner about how we were all living in mud huts with no indoor plumbing and wearing skins before the Indians came...not that my contempt for castrate sycophants like 'snuffs could not possibly increase, but still, good show.
2T - I must defend the honor of CC. A woman of her mettle would not have been driven off by the likes of McSnuffs. Damn, I miss Carrie. Hope she's prospering.
Btw, great hoochie-coochie video!
P.S. 'Snuffs old boy, in answer to your question "Would we even be interacting on Commodore 64's?" the answer is a simple "no". Stop being stupid. Go ahead and be a crazy cocksucking insect if you must, because redeeming your manhood would be a bridge too far for you at this late hour, but ditch the stupid. I offer that as friendly advice. Times aren't going to get any easier, and you're not getting any younger.
Regards,
Nigel "Red" Oak
"You are the devil's own spawn."-Mel T.
Just like the complicit Germans who looked the other way as the victims had to dig their own graves, so goes it for McF.(I wonder if McF had to train his own 8 or so replacements at MS.)
B'Man, offshoring blue collar manufacturing jobs progressed to white collar jobs. Now, we are in the advanced stages where the US imports workers from India to relieve our fellow citizens of their jobs under legalized visa scam programs and Indian body shops. And like prezdumas says, most of them LIE.
Aside from destroying the lives of millions of Americans who paid big$$ at some of our finest universities, this practice known as labor arbitrage also pulls down wages to third world levels. Here. As you ponder, this is what the US pols who sold our jobs want in return for cash and favors with the Indian gov't. with their mangos for nukes dealings. They take our jobs, and we get what? SCREWED. And the Dems surprisingly are the biggest offenders-- the Clintons, Biden and Gore who we have to thank for the privilege of being turned into serfs.
Hey Red Oak "Nigel" great to see you! Is that video not smokin'? I thought about your comment from a while back regarding your name and I think I've got it:
DALGLIESH. No?
I was referring to McF's self important tone when I queried as to whether he thought he "drove" off CC. I could almost believe it;) I miss Carrie, also, and wish she would just find another nom de plume with a new internet connection and ignore her contractual agreement that prevents her from reuniting with her old pals. You know, if she'd only give us some kind of sign to show us that she doesn't think we're all retarded in the "Make new friends, but keep the old one is silver and the other's gold" spirit of bloggy kinship.
Like Tiny Tim Cratchit, open palm extended, oh Carrie, throw us a crumb, a keystroke...
McF! Thanks for the compliment. Oh, deary me, I will now explain your Stockholm Syndrome disease and hope you remain quarantined until you can come to your senses. Uh-oh...you don't mean to tell me that the REAMER OF REDMOND, Mr. Billy Goats canned your impertinent ass, do you?
The last time you dropped by, you graced us with your Acapulco holiday pics of the fam, presumably paid for by MS. Now you've been downsized and Oh, Lawdy, how'd THAT happen? Labor arbitrage.
Does this mean that we get to engage in a zip code war where I get to win, again? Fun!
Sorry to hear your downsizing bad news, but that's the difference between us: I actually care about my smart neighbors who don't deserve to watch their jobs handed over to imported workers just so that some horribly smug, petty frat boy in chief doesn't have to be one-upped by them and can horde more money at their expense.
8 Indians for ONE American? Let's do the math: 42 hr. x 8 gives us $366 hr.
This is absolute bullshit. The CEO who mentioned those numbers is the one on ACID, and you too, if you believe that. Everyone knows that programmers (good ones with advanced degrees from credible, US institutions) don't make that. The hourly range is, or SHOULD average in the $95-$150 but these levels at the high end are becoming almost extinct, THANKS to the cheap labor lobby and their enthusiasts, like yourself.
D you really think that *whopping* hourly rate your pulling down will, among other things, cover your kids' college tuitions? I hate to break the bad news about college tuition sticker costs north of $50K per year - unless you plan on home schooling them in a shopping cart at the WalMart shopping center parking lot.
Spare us the upside-down faux-logic of what selling out US jobs to cheap labor has done for the US. In addition to wages and benefits, quality has gone down -unless your definition of quality is talking to someone who doesn't understand English a million miles away to get shit for customer service. Many people are pissed off and broken (just about) everywhere. The jig is up. That canard flew out the window after Bush and now Obama is left to carry through this Grand Lie of a skilled labor shortage.
But don't worry. The McF household can always huddle and sing Kumbaya around the fire and laugh at the neighbors whose jobs and healthcare disappear while you still got your whopping 42 hr.and can talk down to cheap imported workers. Ain't it GRAND? As long as it's all about YOU.
p.s. do you ever wonder if it was YOU who drove our beloved CC away?
2Truthy: My contracts typically end on a precise schedules. Thanks for asking!
Since I wrote that last message here, I returned to Puerto Vallarta, to celebrate my daughter's 3rd birthday. Here are photos of that: http://mcfnord.livejournal.com/tag/puertovallarta
Thanks for asking!
Due to labor market changes, I now earn $45/hr, 6hrs/day, so $270 and some leisure time. Thanks for asking!
8:1 is true, but the indians did a very different job. you know the CAPCHA letters we see a lot to prove we are human? (I'm looking at one now in this post box!) Some of them filled these in so we could collect all the gas prices in germany eight times per day. That's what I meant about not wanting the job. So.. not bullshit. Thanks for asking!
hosting corporate headquarters is critical to American dominance in this industry, and immigration law in some clear and even generous form are critical to making these work.
For this view, is it reasonable to say I'm no patriot? For this tiny conclusion? I'm some cocksucker? At that point, your true soul is showing.
I strongly empathize with the pain of global disruptions in the labor force.
Labor arbitrage impacts my wage changes, which are returning to where they were around 2005, and rising rapidly toward 2007 levels. My wages have largely tracked national shifts.
I went to a state college! It wasn't worthless! In addition to my own savings, my daughter has veteran benefits! My mother goes home Friday after a triple bypass! Thanks Medicare, state insurance! I want you to get medical insurance, and I have a generally libertarian but effective policy plan that would help that!
How do you go to such extremes riffing on your negative and shallow inferences about my views and the meaning of events in my life?
I'll tell you how: histrionic blunderbuss.
I consider it kind of cute and funny. And it accurately conveys your rage at events in your life and nation.
Carrie and Andro left the internet. Maybe they left because someone disagreed with them. I have no idea!
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