Saturday, July 31, 2004

Better no job than a hard job?
Leftists are opposed to "too much" globalization. They don't want jobs to move from the rich countries to the poor ones because the people in the poor countries will face too hard work conditions when they flock into Western factories to work for double or triple the salary they would get in the fields. Leftists say that the environment will be damaged when factories are built in the poor countries because of lack of regulation, when the fact is that a lack of private property rights on land and water are to blame. Leftists say they worry about the working conditions of the poor in the poor countries, but in reality are simply playing with peoples fear of job-outsourcing with un-foreseen consequences.

An Icelandic Leftist recently wrote in an article that "no-one but the most extreme libertarians say that the people of the Third World should celebrate globalization". Maybe she's right, and in that case I will gladly call myself an "extreme libertarian" (extremely much opposed to being ruled or seeing others ruled, I suppose). I celebrate on the behalf of the people of the Third World who are given the opportunity to compete with the rich countries on an international scale, having a considerable edge on them when it comes to salary-expenses and regulation-costs, but lacking in technology and skills. I hope the Western countries aren't afraid of a little competition, and especially when its result will probably be improved lives of hundreds of millions of people who today are living in conditions similar to those in Europe some 1000 years ago.

Yes, the jobs being created by globalization in the Third World might not be the best of the best on a Western scale. However, they are many times better in both pay and working conditions than those the people of the Third World have to choose from today (if any). That's the plain simple truth and those who fight globalization are fighting against the poor ones of the world being given the free chance of getting a job which will lift them a lot higher in all living conditions. Are Leftists evil or just ignorant when they fight globalization?

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