And what's More

Add this to my previous post.

Today I walked into what I thought would be a kebab shop. Only to find myself in that chestnut, bar where I miraculously rack up a $600 tab scenario. And the thing is I my intuition told me, too late when I walked past the second waiter in the doorway, and whilst not being particularly thrilled or confident about the whole thing having accepted my fate I just sat back and watched the whole sorry facade.
I got out paying only a $100 'protection' fee because I refused to buy myself or anyone else any drinks from the get go. So it ended up being more of a half hearted shakedown in a bar.
I fell in because I thought it was broad daylight, I'd end up in some kebab house. Stupid me.
That aside though I wanted to focus on this one phenomena of when your mind just knows that things don't add up and don't work out.I didn't go and study a whole heep of economic textbooks, talk to Industry leaders and so fourth like Friedman did with 'The World is Flat' and the fact of the matter is, there's nothing I really dispute him on. Except that I don't assume some great wonderful goal at the end of the GNP tunnel like he does, and I don't value hard work.
No mostly I guess I would have to admit to pathetic rationalisation. That is in India, China and to a lesser extent Thailand... I just opened my eyes and didn't dust off the impression that 'something is wrong with this picture'
And then I began a superficial dig to see what could explain my feeling.
And I forgot a few things -

Namely - there are forces I genuıinely believe are good, and they are simply reducable to things that increase these: participation, enjoyment.
But the rest namely outsourcing and offshoring I view as cheating, that is handing developing economic cool spots all the hot stuff without the development and maturity in place. I don't think I covered that well.
But basically what I mean is, something my bass teacher made a proverb for me - the slower you go the faster you learn.
Friedman emphasises fundamentals in maths and science. I would extend that to fundamentals in economics, morality and governance. These are big yawning holes in the Big Emerging Markets, and furthermore recent development has been rewarding the corrupt and inept management precedents set by India and China's governments alike.

And then this is just how I think, in analogies, an appeal to universalism. So here is my bonus chapter...

A good worker is like a good woman

Bill Gates, Friedman and a lot of references talk about how great Indian workers are, they are cheap, enthusiastic and hard working. They in the book all marvel about the advantages of Chinese and Indian workers and scorn the fat lazy knowledge workers of the developed world.
And one can tsk tsk at how uncompetitive or perhaps anti-competitive workers in the west have become.
Unions are bad guys afterall right, extortionist that can't look past their own self interest.
All of that. Now let me talk about women disgustingly.
Japanese women are docile, hygenic, submissive and polite. They do as they are told and keep their feelings to themselves. How lazy our women have become. Why I would be crazy to marry anyone else.
This is the exact same thing. Outsourcing and offshoring may not be bad on paper, but it also threatens hard won necessary humanitarian rights that come from decades of labor movements. Just like every man getting himself a mail order bride for obediance and sexual relief undermines a lot of hard won necessary and humanitarian rights to come out of the womens movement and sexual revolution.
Fare trade not free trade. Best practice is best protection too.