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Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Do people really truly enjoy the chaos and cacaphony of being packed closely together? Do they prefer that over a bit of space and a bit of quietude? Really? Sure looks that way. Guess I'm the oddball.  |
Generally, yes. People are drawn to where things are happening, and things are happening in big cities. Most of the U.S. is wide open space, but the people want the entertainment and salaries afforded by the city. Fortunately this is an efficient arrangement as the wide open spaces can be farmed or preserved while the masses are crammed into a relatively small space.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ladogaboy
American companies (if there truly are any, anymore) only look at the bottom line, so they seek out the cheapest labor force possible. Hence, outsourcing. The American population further supports this because we would rather spend $1 on a foreign-made product than $2 on an American-made product (if you can find one), regardless of the quality...
People forget that art and music are as important to society as science. And the most egregious problem that comes out of this is that our wages are, mostly, dictated by how highly our society ranks our position.
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People demand the highest quality goods at the lowest prices, this in turn forces any competitive company to find the highest quality labor they can for the lowest cost. Often this is found in other countries. This is good because it provides income to people in other countries, we get affordable goods, and the crappy menial jobs are outsourced.
Nobody [still] complains about the enormous amount of lost cotton picking jobs that came about due to advances in machinery. We shouldn't be complaining about any lost job that is due to advances in technology, or offshoring.
If the US is really interested in keeping menial jobs, then we need to get rid of the utterly worthless minimum wage law. I'm always amazed that I live in such a backwards country that would tell someone they cannot work for an amount they are willing to work for. Somehow we think it's better for a work seeker to have no job, along with higher inflation.
As to your art comment, that is entirely subjective. If I had to choose between music and not having to hunt and gather my food, I would forgo the music. This is really comes down to a question of whether form should follow function, or the other way 'round.