Middle Class Erosion: Offshoring and International Outsourcing

 Offshoring and Outsourcing has its benefits and negatives; however, it’s causing America’s class division and erosion of the middle class to gradually increase. International outsourcing and offshoring may sound like a great idea in theory. Companies are able to get more bang for their buck; it’s similar to a thrifty shopper. But the difference between a thrifty shopper is that their getting good quality products for less money, which isn’t hurting anyone in the long run. Offshoring and international outsourcing has an immediate satisfaction for the company, but a horrible outcome in terms of America’s people and economy. The middle class of America is slowly eroding away because  a California study shows that “14 million white-collar jobs are vulnerable to being outsourced offshore”(Roberts). The big companies, unfortunately, are selfish at heart; only wanting to gain more and more money and expand their company. People are continuously are getting displaced in another sector of their company because of the offshoring of that sector. It would cost the company a lot less; however, it will increase their capital. The employee will end up with less money in the end, but that’s okay with the company.

            Not only is offshoring and outsourcing causing major hiccups in the decline of well paying jobs, but it’s causing many students to study things other than the “technical and scientific disciplines” (Roberts). The students know that if they go into this field looking for a job, their job could possibly be offshored. This is because the “the goods-producing sector”(Maclay) of many companies are usually offshored. If this continues, then there wouldn’t be anyone that can fight this issue with these “technical and scientific” skills. The future wouldn’t consist of people of who are getting modest life in the middle class. You’ll either be struggling to make ends meet in a job that pays a very low wage, or you’ll be an employer that is making the decision to offshore and to outsource internationally.   

            Offshoring and international outsourcing have very few benefits, and those benefits only address the company. These benefits have nothing to do with American employees. America should be rising with our companies, not deteriorating because of them. America is supposed to represent the freedom, choice, and a better way of living. But that can’t be true if we our middle class, the comfortable class, is falling apart. We’ll be like all the other countries that we’re often trying to differentiate ourselves from.  

Works Cited

Maclay, Kathleen. "Report: Offshoring and Outsourcing a Mixed Bag for American Jobs,             Wages." UC Berkeley NewsCenter. N.p., 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

 

Roberts, Paul, Dr. "Global Research." Global Research. N.p., 09 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

 

My Mother Tongue and Standard English

Honestly, I think the constant use of Standard English is a bunch of bullshit. Standard English isn’t a good way to talk about philosophy and all that other hyped up shit. But it’s just a way to make your ass sound smarter. It honestly confuses the fuck out of me. Every time I hear someone speak with hyped up vocab, I’m like, “What the hell!” But obviously I say that to myself because I don’t want to seem like a dumbass.

            But where is the ability to communicate clearly and effectively? What happened to being able to get your point across quickly? What happened to making your audience understand the best way you know how? What the fuck happened to that! Philosophy isn’t about language and making a person sound smart, it’s about the meanings and ideas of life and groups in the world around you. Fuck all that other talk about how Standard English is the right English; it’s the white English. It’s just a way to separate people into different classes; a form of oppression. Many people believe if you don’t speak “Standard English” you’re less educated. Fuck that! I definitely don’t speak Standard English da time; but if you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am an educated young female writing for her AP Language and Composition class.

            The language a person uses doesn’t fuck up a way a person communicates deep thoughts. It shouldn’t matter what language you speak, it honestly depends on the audience. If your audience speaks the way you speak, then obviously that person or group of people will be able to understand you clearly. And if your audience doesn’t speak the same way you speak, well fuck, switch it up. Gotta’ put your fake-ness on. Fuck, I gotta do it every day. Yes, it’s tiring, but hell you gotta’ do what ya gotta’ do. Unless you make them understand; which can be equally as tiring. It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it.

            This experiment of me writing in my mother tongue was interesting. It was very liberating because I was able to be me. Personally, I was never able to write how I spoke on an everyday basis because it’s seen as an uneducated way to write or speak. For the first time in my life writing came easy to me. I didn’t stress about punctuation too much, I didn’t stress about how many words I had in a sentence, or how clear I was coming across. I was truly and honestly comfortable. The experience was second nature to me because that is the way I speak the most often. Well, when I’m with my family it’s less swearing, but none the less it’s definitely not Standard English.  

            This experience was some-what unlike Anzaldua’s code switching or Jordan’s students. Anzaldua wasn’t really comfortable speaking her mother tongue anywhere. Her mother would reprimand her for speaking English like a Hispanic; she spoke English with her friends, who also spoke Spanish, because it might not be the “right” Spanish. Whereas Jordan’s students didn’t even know that Black English could be typed, they had no idea what they were reading, and that they spoke Black English every day. Whereas I am very comfortable speaking my mother tongue any where I go, except for school and school related events. I also knew that Black English existed and that I speak it every day. However I know if Anzaldua had the opportunity to participate in this assignment she would also feel liberated. She would finally be able to have her mother tongue heard and allowed for the first time.  

            Which leads me to say that I think it’s possible to communicate meaningful ideas to others without Standard English. But it depends on your audience; it comes down to what’s the most effective way to communicate an idea. This causes a person to assess the situation at hand. A person has to decide whether they want to make their audience understand them or if they want to conform to the audience.  

The Ukrainian Crisis Based off Other Countries Perspectives

In the past couple of years it has been a time of revolutions. First it was Egypt, and then there was Syria, and now Ukraine. The people are tired and want to stand up against their governments. Even though these movements have far deeper meanings to them, they are all basically the same. When times like these come around the world is in worry and distress. And these worries come down to safety of the world, power, and money. Even though many different countries such as Poland, Britain, and France have different concerns they also have similar concerns.

            One thing that Poland, Britain, and France all have in common is that they are worried about what Russia is going to do and how they’re going to handle Crimea. In the French article they talked about the Russian troops in Crimea. The articles stated, “Early reports said the truck had smashed down the gates of the base in an attempt to seize the key base at Crimean port city of Sevastopol” (www.france24.com). Obviously, this is not the main concern for just these three countries, but for basically the whole world. The Crimean referendum is declared illegal based off the Ukrainian constitution. Poland, Britain, and France’s main concern is how the U.S is going to handle this? Honestly no one knows; the U.S. seems to be planning as things progress, trying to end this as quickly, as safely, and as cost effectively as possible. There is a lot of talk about sanctions being put in place, but everyone’s on the lookout because of the possibility of there being a World War III starting with the two most powerful countries in the world.

            One thing that was very surprising in my finds from the three different countries is that not all of the countries are concerned on how this could affect them. The only country that’s concerned about how they will come out of this Ukrainian crisis is Poland, and for obvious reasons. Poland is right next to Ukraine. They are concerned about their energy system.      However, this wasn’t the highlight of Poland’s article. The polish article’s main concern was the possibility of upcoming occupations. The MEP and the deputy foreign minister stated, “We are in a situation where our maps will perhaps need to be redrawn marking territories under occupation” (www.thenews.pl). This showed me they’re not just concerned about the U.S. and Russia, the two power houses of the world, but that there could be a possible trend of less sovereignty in the world, which is extremely scary.

            These three countries are all concerned about what’s going to happen to Ukraine and what kind of precedent it will set in the future based off Russia’s act of trying to annex Crimea. They are also concerned about the United State’s involvement; however, who isn’t concerned about these two countries crossing paths. It could cause something very messy and expensive. None of these countries seemed to have different concerns at all because they all know that there is a slight possibility of a war. And all of these countries know that this is bad for them.