[opendtv] Re: How India is saving capitalism
- From: "Lindhoff, Andrew (PHPPO)" <axl1@xxxxxxx>
- To: <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 12:10:22 -0400
Bert:
I know that in the big picture of things, it is most fashionable
nowadays not to give a whole heck of a hoot about the trials and
tribulations of the average person. But, unfortunately, I am a still a
member in good standing of the old school who still does. I also am
extremely concerned about taking capital by the bundle out of the hands
of the average person and collectivizing it in the hands of a very few.
This happened in 1929, and it could very well happen again in 2004. The
business world of the depression era was relatively stupid, by reason of
the fact that they very coldheartedly and methodically went about the
business of firing 27% of their own marketplace, and then sat around in
their mahogany paneled board rooms and wondered why their profits
decreased each ensuing year. DA? The theology of the day (As it
appears to be today) as well was that other folks would hire the ones
that they canned. Didn't happen in '29, and won't happen now, if we
continue on down the present economic road. You need the geographical
and purchasing decision making spread of a very ubiquitous consumer
marketplace to feed all of the engines of industry in this country.
There simply aren't enough rich folks to go around around to do such all
on their own, and people in foreign countries making $3K to $11K per
year, if they're lucky that is, really aren't going to be of much help
either. As well, the Rich and Famous seldom pour money into enterprises
who have a very limited marketplace...if any at all, and thus, the
prospect of a lousy ROI. So, the trickle down theory of economics
simply doesn't work. It didn't work in good old '29, and won't work
today either. What works is to put people back to work, pay them a
decent wage, and encourage them to spend up a storm. That's the stuff
of economic recoveries, not canning as large a percentage of your
marketplace and those of others as you possibly can can, and then
hooting and hollering about prosperity being just around the corner.
Mr. Hoover and the business community of his day tried that approach,
and you can readily see what it got both of them. Greed will always
outdistance common sense, but, it's common sense in the end run that is
required to get this nation as fully employed as is possible, and
accordingly, back on a proper consumer based economic track. This does
not take a dose of legislation on the part of the government, it takes a
dose of intelligence on the part of the boys in the boardrooms across
the length and breath of this country. Until they smarten-up, and smell
the coffee that they are currently spilling all over themselves, we all
are in serious trouble...even those of us who are still lucky enough to
be gainfully employed, because our turn easily could be next...believe
me it could. As they say: "It's a recession, when my next door neighbor
loses his or her job. It's a depression, when I lose mine." Unless we
all smarten-up, that depression could be around the corner for all too
many additional of us. =20
Drew Lindhoff. =20
-----Original Message-----
From: Manfredi, Albert E [mailto:albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx]=20
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 11:12 AM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: How India is saving capitalism
Drew Lindhoff wrote:
> Monty:
>=3D20
> Carrying-out Katharine's logic to its fullest extent, then, if I buy a
>gun and kill several people who design and manufacture guns, then =20
>they're at fault for designing and manufacturing them, and I'm not for
>using them against them in a lethal manner? Give me a break.=3D20
> I wonder
> if Katharine would be so cavalier about the offshoring issue,=3D20 if =
>her job had been offshored...and nowadays, it might easily be.
It's all part of the same big picture, though. Whether it's protecting =
=3D
jobs or protecting IP, the Internet breaks down geographic barriers for
=3D work involving only code (or text, or ideas). On the jobs front, =
this
is =3D much like efficient transportation of goods removing the need for
local =3D manufacturing jobs, after the industrial revolution.
It's a seismic shift in the economy. I don't know that it can be =3D
stopped. I would expect that any legislation to restrict this use of the
=3D Internet internationally would at best delay the inevitable. There =
are
=3D too many advantages to consumers here and to workers everywhere else
to =3D stop this train. What we don't know now is what there will be to
replace =3D these lost jobs. For example, what would all these folks
working on =3D software today have been doing in the 1950s? Fifty years
ago, how many =3D could have predicted the extent to which the economy
would have depended =3D on these software jobs that they couldn't even
comprehend?
The same is most likely the case now. We don't know.
Bert
=20
=20
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