Re: Jobs (or the lack of....) -- MIDRANGE-L

I would've if I could've.

As for cars, 2 Fords & 3 GM's the oldest being an 83 Cadillac Eldorado that
I'm restoring for my beautiful wife.

David would cut us off if I got started on my views as to the lack of the
knowledge of history exhibited by today's 18-34 year old market. You need
only look at Jay Leno's history and geography quizzes that he gives to
college students.

Suffice it to say that I took my 17 year old son to see the movie "Pearl
Harbor" last year, shortly after we had watched "Band of Brothers" on HBO
(btw, HBO Video is a 400 shop). When the attack scene was over, I asked him
if he had any questions as to why the Nelson family avoids purchasing
foreign products. His response: "Not anymore".

I am proud to say that this young man is going through the process of trying
to get into the United States Naval Academy, with the goal of becoming a
Marine officer. Semper Fi.

Paul Nelson
Braxton-Reed, Inc.
630-327-8665 Cell
708-923-7354 Home
pnelson@braxton-reed.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Booth Martin" <Booth@MartinVT.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: Jobs (or the lack of....)


> --
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>
> Then why wouldn't you buy my cast iron Paul? My wholesale finished price
was
> only 10 times the cost for the same or better quality from off-shore.  As
a
> patriotic citizen why wouldn't you pay me $100 for a $10 item?  By the
way,
> what kind of a car do you drive?
>
> I am not attacking you Paul, I am only trying to make the point that
> isolationist trade policy doesn't work, mostly because consumers demands
> overwhelm government regulation.
>
> What policies & practices does India's government impose that you'd
consider
> as hampering or restricting their workers?  I am not aware of any, in fact
I
> wish there were more.  I wish India had OSHA. I wish India had emissions
> controls.  I wish India had minimum wages and mandatory overtime pay
rates.
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Booth Martin   http://www.MartinVT.com
> Booth@MartinVT.com
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> From: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Date: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 10:56:46 AM
> To: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Subject: Re: Jobs (or the lack of....)
>
> I'm just saying that we need to take care of our own people before sending
> our cash elsewhere.
> We're not stepping on anybody's necks. Their governments are.
>
> Paul Nelson
> Braxton-Reed, Inc.
> 630-327-8665 Cell
> 708-923-7354 Home
> pnelson@braxton-reed.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Booth Martin" <Booth@MartinVT.com>
> To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 9:39 AM
> Subject: RE: Jobs (or the lack of....)
>
>
> > --
> > --
> > [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> >
> > Before I started programming as a career I owned a cast iron foundry.
> I've
> > been through this battle and still have the emotional and financial
scars.
> > At the end, I could buy finished cast iron delivered to my doorstep from
> > India for less than the cost of my raw pig iron. We blamed unions, we
> > blamed energy costs, we blamed environmental costs, we blamed fringe
> > benefits. In short we spent a lot of energy blaming the world. It didn't
> > make a difference. We still closed and put close to 50 unskilled
American
> > families out of work.
> >
> > About quality: Don't sing that tune; find some other tune. Programmers
> > learn fast.
> >
> > In the end for my own emotional well-being I had to accept the idea that
I
> > am a citizen of the World. Raising the standard of living for
> impoverished
> > people can't be considered a bad thing.
> >
> > How can we compete at our high earnings? I haven't an answer, but I'm
> sure
> > we can't ever win by stepping on the necks of impoverished people
fighting
> > to feed their own children.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------
> > Booth Martin http://www.MartinVT.com
> > Booth@MartinVT.com
> > ---------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > -------Original Message-------
> >
> > From: midrange-l@midrange.com
> > Date: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 10:14:55 AM
> > To: 'midrange-l@midrange.com'; midrange-jobs@midrange.com
> > Subject: RE: Jobs (or the lack of....)
> >
> > Mr. Nelson states :
> > "We need to turn around the argument that the offshore can do the
> > work for less money to one
> > where the work is done with higher quality in less time. "
> >
> >
> > The answer to that statement is very simple, and it has everything
> > to do with cost. When we go to Wal-Mart to buy a shirt, it's made
> somewhere
> > other than the U.S.A., but we don't care because it's inexpensive. The
> > shirt's quality, while usually less than desirable, is acceptable
because
> of
> > the price of the shirt. Translated into software, just look at
> > Windows...we can't stand the fact that we have to reboot 2 times a week,
> but
> > the $110.00 price tag for the OS offsets our frustration.
> >
> > Hence, a U.S. company has a strong financial incentive to use
> > offshore labor because while the quality may be lacking (and this is
> > debatable as time goes by), the price for that labor is so damn cheap,
> they
> > don't care.
> >
> > Finally, outsourcing turns labor into a capitalized cost instead of
> > a long-term commitment involving labor disputes, last productivity due
to
> > illness, insurance, retirement issues, and so forth.
> >
> > So, what's the solution? I don't know, but I do know that preaching
> > quality ain't gonn'a save our jobs, so let's explore other avenues too.
> >
> >
> > Just my .02 worth. :-)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Ray Shahan
> >
> > "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans", John Lennon
> > --
> > [ Content of type image/gif deleted ]
> > --
> >
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