Collegiate Times

T

he United States economy is currently in shambles, as evidenced by the remarkably high rate of unemployment.

Meanwhile, we’re in college crossing our fingers hoping things will look up by the time we graduate, and other Americans are cursing businesses that send jobs abroad. Each year some 200,000 jobs are sent abroad, theoretically meaning this many potential jobs at home are foregone. As fired-up as people become upon hearing this, it pains to me think of how much our role in the trend is overlooked.

As consumers, we push companies to outsource through our demand for lower prices.

In order to provide these lower prices, they must find every possible way to lower operating costs, which, thanks to modern technology, makes resources from across the world feasible, including labor abroad. 

In addition to our demand, increasingly few people are willing to do many of the jobs being sent abroad. For example, most of us would not say we are enrolled in college so we can answer calls in a call center or stitch clothes.

The truth is, if we want to enjoy low prices, we cannot complain about how companies achieve these low prices.

The irony lies in the fact we are not willing to work for minimal wages but still expect minimal prices. Therefore I do not understand or agree with the anger I often hear from people when they find out their customer care call is being answered in India. 

We own fancy computers and gadgets that may very well have been developed in the U.S., but globalization allows the same American companies to take their labor needs elsewhere, as the U.S. offers outrageously expensive labor in comparison.

These problems were epitomized by animation mogul Matt Groening’s “The Simpsons.” A recent episode featured an extended title opening sequence, depicting gruesome working conditions in what is supposed to be the show’s animation and paraphernalia factory. This included scenes of female workers of Asian descent drudgingly drawing animations one after another, dead kittens being stuffed into Simpsons dolls and hazardous materials galore.

Apparently, the inclusion of the scene was in response to reports that “The Simpsons” outsources its animation needs to a company in South Korea. This clip served as the rebuttal, in true Simpsons humor, not to sugarcoat the perceived truth of the accusations.

Shocked fans and non-fans alike have been vocal about the clip, and there is much to be learned from it, as did “The Simpsons” creators.

We are affected by the stereotypes we have of outsourcing, which are largely becoming outdated. The sweatshops and horrors we used to imagine abroad in the 1990s are not as relevant in the new millennium.

In fact, labor laws in South Korea are fairly stringent and in many ways comparable to their U.S. counterparts. I suspect we have a horrible image of outsourcing, stemming perhaps from the bitterness of the loss of jobs and even a sense of superiority we feel as Americans in the most developed and therefore most “civilized” nation.

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A version of this article appeared in the Nov 5 issue of the Collegiate Times.