When I was training to become a clinical psychologist, the use of psychological tests was a significant portion of the curriculum. While "psychometric" instruments like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) had strong statistical bases, real clinicians loved the older "projective techniques," like the Rorschach, the Thematic Apperception Test or the Sentence Completion Test. These were the real powerhouses that gave psychologists a glimpse into the inner workings of the testee's psyche.
Today, there's a new projective technique available. Just say the words, "globalization," and "immigration," and stand back. The responses will tell you everything you need to know about the respondent.
And, make no mistake, those responses can surprise the heck out of you and make for some very strange bedfellows.
Take, for instance, the Senate bill co-sponsored by John McCain and Edward Kennedy. Strange enough bedfellows for you? The bill, reported out of the Judiciary Committee yesterday, would permit the approximately 12 million illegal aliens in the country to work towards citizenship over a 6 to 12 year period. NY Times quote:
"All of those people who were demonstrating [in L.A. over the weekend] were not necessarily here illegally," said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who sponsored the legalization measures with Senator Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. Mr. Kennedy described the people who would benefit from the bill as "our neighbors," adding: "They're churchgoers. They're the shop owners down the street. They're the people we know."
Speaking in support of the bill, Committee Chairman Arlen Spector said, "We do not want to create a fugitive class in America. We do not want to create an underclass in America."
As the shrink in me would say, "hmm...'churchgoers'...'fugitives'...'underclass'...; very interesting."
Then take Pat Buchanan. Imus interviewed him on Imus In The Morning today. During the course of that interview, Buchanan expressed his opinion by saying things like, "this bill is backed by the multi-national corporations who have the politicians in their pockets"; and, "this will turn America into the flophouse of the world"; and, "the failed Mexican regime wants us to medicate, educate and incarcerate their citizens"; and, "this is Mexico's attempt to re-annex the Southwest"; and, finally, "this would be the end of the United States as we know it."
Shrink Tom says: "Um...OK...please do go on..."
And then we have the French students in the streets, battling against the "precarité" (precariousness) created by globalization. Recently, the French government proposed a law enabling corporations operating in that country to fire workers during their first two years of employment if their performance was inadequate. After that, you're home free! How dare the world try to impose its economic and social standards on them? Slave labor! How dare businesses expect them to prove themselves? Again, from the Times:
"This contract is like living beneath a guillotine,'' said Charlotte Billaud, 21, a political science student in the third year of her five-year program at the Sorbonne. ''When you can be fired without reason, you do not dare criticize your boss or join a union.''
Tom (jotting notes on yellow pad)..."ah, yes...a 'guillotine'...yes, I see..."
Look. Massive social/economic change is difficult. But we live in a world in which global capital flows uninhibited to those locales in which it will gain the greatest return. That's a descriptive statement, not a moral judgment. Would I like to see global capital have a more humane agenda? Of course. Do I expect it to develop one? Only if such an agenda aids in maximizing return on investment. Same with environmental sensitivity. If the marketplace rewards it, it will develop; if not, it won't. That's just the way the world works.
Immigation reform? If Americans stop hiring illegal immigrants, they'll stop coming. Globalization? If we stop doing business with companies which outsource to hire cheaper labor, they'll stop outsourcing.
And, if you believe that, I've got some inkblots I'd like to show you.
Indeed. Corporations respond to one thing only: the bottom line. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend checking out "The Corporation".
http://www.thecorporation.com/
Posted by: Jeff | March 28, 2006 at 04:00 PM
I have seen it, Jeff. Stark, but certainly not unfair.
Posted by: Tom | March 28, 2006 at 06:04 PM
I took the MMPI a number of times. Results were about you expect.
Posted by: alan herrell - the head lemur | March 28, 2006 at 07:19 PM
Is Globalization good for America? Arena seating and theater seating manufacturers outsource to third world countries.
The large outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing jobs that began years ago continues today. Michigan, a furniture manufacturing center, lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in the last few years. North Carolina experienced a similar fate, as has every state in the U.S.
U.S. seating manufacturers have in recent years outsourced and manufactured seating in third world countries, for example Mexico, China and Malaysia. However, Preferred Seating, located in Tennessee, is struggling upstream to supply manufacturing jobs here in the U.S. Preferred Seating wants to manufacture arena seating and theater seating in the U.S., create jobs and contribute to the U.S. economy.
The larger seating manufacturers who have the capital to build factories in third world countries make larger profit margins when they import seating parts from countries where labor and materials are less expensive. These companies argue that the public benefits from lower prices for their products. However, they sell their auditorium seating and theater seating for the same price as U.S. manufacturers, but make more profit.
While these companies are making stronger sales, they are adding few jobs.
A seating manufacturer stated in “The Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids Michigan, Jan 23, 2005 the following:
“Absolutely, every company should be looking at China and offshore production, whether or not they actually do it. The good old days are just that – old, and the climate will never be the same. It’s now a global world where people don’t buy (just) from their country anymore. They buy the product that fits their needs, and a lot of it has to do with cost.”
While standards of living have increased as third world countries become more industrialized, they have fallen in developed countries. Was it not the industrialized revolution in the U.S. that contributed to the U.S. becoming a world super power? Losing our manufacturing base will make us more vulnerable to those countries we are allowing to manufacture our products.
Lower wage, unskilled earners are affected the most. They do not have skills that can be applied to other jobs. Education, with the ability to change careers, is the key to survival. The only answer that political and business leaders have agreed to so far is the necessity of an educated, adaptable workforce. But who is going to pay for the massive reeducation of the dislocated labor force, taxpayers?
We may enjoy lower pricing for products. Companies will make more of a profit by outsourcing. However, in my opinion the cost and risk to America is too great for the short term benefits.
Author: Billie Sumner
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tollfree 866-922-0226
http://www.preferred-seating.com
Posted by: Billie | September 23, 2007 at 12:05 AM
Is Globalization good for America? Arena seating and theater seating manufacturers outsource to third world countries.
The large outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing jobs that began years ago continues today. Michigan, a furniture manufacturing center, lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in the last few years. North Carolina experienced a similar fate, as has every state in the U.S.
U.S. seating manufacturers have in recent years outsourced and manufactured seating in third world countries, for example Mexico, China and Malaysia. However, Preferred Seating, located in Tennessee, is struggling upstream to supply manufacturing jobs here in the U.S. Preferred Seating wants to manufacture arena seating and theater seating in the U.S., create jobs and contribute to the U.S. economy.
The larger seating manufacturers who have the capital to build factories in third world countries make larger profit margins when they import seating parts from countries where labor and materials are less expensive. These companies argue that the public benefits from lower prices for their products. However, they sell their auditorium seating and theater seating for the same price as U.S. manufacturers, but make more profit.
While these companies are making stronger sales, they are adding few jobs.
A seating manufacturer stated in “The Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids Michigan, Jan 23, 2005 the following:
“Absolutely, every company should be looking at China and offshore production, whether or not they actually do it. The good old days are just that – old, and the climate will never be the same. It’s now a global world where people don’t buy (just) from their country anymore. They buy the product that fits their needs, and a lot of it has to do with cost.”
While standards of living have increased as third world countries become more industrialized, they have fallen in developed countries. Was it not the industrialized revolution in the U.S. that contributed to the U.S. becoming a world super power? Losing our manufacturing base will make us more vulnerable to those countries we are allowing to manufacture our products.
Lower wage, unskilled earners are affected the most. They do not have skills that can be applied to other jobs. Education, with the ability to change careers, is the key to survival. The only answer that political and business leaders have agreed to so far is the necessity of an educated, adaptable workforce. But who is going to pay for the massive reeducation of the dislocated labor force, taxpayers?
We may enjoy lower pricing for products. Companies will make more of a profit by outsourcing. However, in my opinion the cost and risk to America is too great for the short term benefits.
Author: Billie Sumner
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tollfree 866-922-0226
http://www.preferred-seating.com
Posted by: Billie | September 23, 2007 at 12:06 AM