[TriLUG] OT: PT One tech issue from tonight's debate

[Scott Chilcote]

On 10/19/2012 11:08 AM, Ron Kelley wrote:
> I have been silent thru this email thread but could not hold my breath any longer...
>
> Wow - just wow!  So much negative sentiment from the posts below.  If you believe what these guys are saying, no one in the USA could every get a professional job because of a million reasons.  From "Screw educational degrees", to "...college degrees are little more than class warfare...", to don't become a scientist because "you don't want a wife and kids...".  LOL, what a bunch of garbage!
Hi Ron,

When you take many of the worst statements people have made in their
contributions to this thread, strip them of their context and roll them
together into a paragraph, you definitely get a big lump of negativity
to build a case out of.  But I don't think that anyone here is saying
that it is no longer possible for /any/ dedicated, hard working American
to have a successful career in Science and Technology.  Based on the
typical "need a job" showing of hands at TriLUG meetings, I think that
most of the people who read this forum are currently employed and are
fairly satisfied with their jobs.

As engineers, does it make sense for us to look at several strongly
worded complaints from experienced, competent, technically trained
individuals, and write them off as meaningless sour grapes?  Aren't we
obligated to attempt a root cause analysis, to try to figure out if the
system is indeed broken and if so, where?

That's what I did, and this is the result that I concluded: 

    The business interests who control much of our nation's power are
    pushing towards a borderless, international marketplace for
    knowledge workers.  This allows them to continuously reduce costs,
    increase profit, and deliver growth to their stockholders.  Many of
    us have seen this going on for several years.  Ask anyone here who
    has worked for, or with IBM or several dozen other employers doing
    the same thing. 

    But in stark contrast, the cost of living in the various nations
    where these professionals live varies wildly.  The result is hard on
    American professionals because it moves their jobs overseas, and
    pressures employers to reduce compensation for the Americans that
    they do employ.


I just wanted to point out that I see nothing in your response that
addresses this core issue, while most of the responses you quoted from
are at least describing it.

As an aside, I'd like to point out that being a military contractor is a
good choice for a US citizen in one of these professions.  Unlike many
other technology related career fields, it is more resistant to being
outsourced.

   Scott C.