America: Land of the free, home of the entiteld

I recently read an article about how Apple (and other of America's most successful companies) outsources its manufacturing, such that few if any of the products sold to Americans are made in America.  Of course there was talk about now "nimble" and "flexible" the factories are and how "skilled" the workers are abroad, and there was definitely talk about how the labor is "cheaper."  But the article (as well as any discussion about outsourcing) failed to discuss the elephant in the room: the attitude of entitlement among Americans.

The article pointed out an example about the iPhone and how there was a design configuration change at the last minute (six weeks before the launch of the phone) and a plant in China was able to not only implement it within 24 hours, but it also began pumping out 10,000 iPhones a week.  The interesting part about the example for me was the fact the factory was able to implement the change within 24 hours because the workers are housed in dormitories at the plant, they worked 12 hour shifts, they were awakened in the middle of the night to work, and fed a biscuit and tea--as if to say "this should tide you over.  Now get to work."  There was a quote--something about no other facility in America could have done such a turn around and produced so quickly.  Well there's a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with the fact our workers demand higher wages or that they aren't trained or skilled enough to do it.

Sometime around World War II, there was a shift among the attitudes of American workers.  They demanded that their employer treat them--and pay them--with respect.  They demanded certain working conditions, refused to work over a certain amount of hours per day or week and put limits on the ages of our workers.  It was then that manufacturing in America (and the middle class it created) began to decline.

After decades of federal and state regulation setting standards in America's work places, there is definitely not a plant in America that could have done what the plant in China did for the iPhone.  Workers aren't living in rooms at the plant.  They certainly are going to want more than a biscuit and tea for breakfast, and they'll be damned if they're working 12 hour shifts for six straight weeks without getting paid overtime.

According to the article, President Obama asked Steve Jobs what it would take to bring those jobs back to the US.  Jobs said (inaudibly to the POTUS) "Those jobs are never coming back."  Damn right they aren't--especially since the workforce those jobs would employ in America would rather collect government aid than subject themselves to the same working conditions as the Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Taiwanese and others that have those jobs now.  Get on the train to elitism or die a broke muthafucka; there's no in between anymore.

The meanest, prettiest, the baddest low-down mofo around this town,

Sho-NUFF