

My Kingdom for a Capitalist - mattriv
http://www.trivisonno.com/my-kingdom-for-a-capitalist

======
Hume
A middle class lifestyle is based upon the products that companies produce,
not so much the jobs they provide. A house with a garden is within reach of
the masses only if cars are affordable (ford model T ) a yearly holiday to a
sunny location is only within reach of those same people if travel is
affordable ( boeing 747 ).

The pressure put upon established jobs originates from technology at least as
much as it does from outsourcing lower skilled labour to Asia or Latin
America. The unemployment we are facing now is not the result of outsourcing
but of the misallocation of resources. Besides, production follows consumption
and much of the investment overseas is not in service to American consumers
but aims to build up access to those markets.

Middle class Americans have access to more products and services than ever
before, the biggest threat to a sustained middle class is a re-inflation of
houseprices and a sustained political attack on free trade, not on the lack of
foresight of the CEO's of mature organizations.

------
paulhauggis
Mom and pop music stores (if they even exist anymore) now have to compete
globally because of the Internet.

Just like when the horse and buggy was phased out by the automobile,
industries have been changed forever by the Internet.

Smart companies have adapted and are still around. Others have been destroyed
by these changes (Blockbuster is a recent example).

The same thing applies to offshoring. Depending on your industry, you may be
competing with $8 Mexican and Chinese workers. The solution is to adapt and
make yourself worth the extra money. If you can't, it's time to spend your
free time learning a new skill set.

