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Don't let your babies grow up to be programmers (was: up with PyGUI!)

Neuruss luismg at gmx.net
Thu Sep 23 17:37:40 EDT 2004 
I'd just like to add a comment, not to start an endless debate on U.S
economic or trade policy...
IMHO what you are experiencing in the U.S is just another sign of the
globalization process, which is bad from an american perspective, but
good from a global one.

For too long, the industrialized countries have enjoy the power of
their competitiveness and technical inovation while, at the same time,
they have been protecting their less competitive sectors such as
agriculture and labor intensive jobs. But this situation led to a club
of rich nations isolated from a mass of third world countries, whose
primary products weren't allowed to enter the rich markets due to very
rigid policy of subsidies and trade barriers.

But how can IBM, Microsoft, HP, and all those monsters keep on growing
without selling to the so called "emerging markets"? By trading with
Mars?
If the rich want to get richer, sooner or later they will have to even
the field, allowing others to rise from missery in order to
incorporate them to the consumption society.

Now you see China, India, Brazil and other countries that are doing
well, improving the condition of their inhabitants, getting them out
of missery and incorporating them to the global market.
Those foreigners buy american products, now more than before because
they have more money, thus improving the profit of the monsters
mentioned above.
Here in latin america we buy these products, and at the same price or
more in US Dollars (not a penny less), don't you think we deserve
something in exchange?
I don't mean humanitarian supplies, I mean more fair and equitable
rules for trading of products, skills and resources.

After a very hard devaluation of our currency, an argentine programmer
is paid 11 dollars less an hour than an indian one. Now, many educated
people, with knowledge of two or more languages and with high tech
skills can aspire to pay the rent and make a living, making 4 or 5x
less than an american counterpart.
These people worked their ass off to have what they're getting now.

Honestly, do you expect them to be sorry for you?
I'm affraid that there's no way back. A highly skilled programmer in
the third world (or any other kind of proffesional) deserves to get a
job if he/she can do it better and cheaper than an american (or
canadian or whatever..) one.
This is the internet age. I hope that it contributes to make the poor
less poor and the rich not so rich, and maybe, in a distant future we
will have a better world for all of us.
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