I know the feeling. I recently posted on Reality Check about the changing languages and dialects in Americans. It's even harder when we're working with phone operatives from other countries.

I often wonder how people can get away with not really understanding English when their primary job is communicating with people who inevitably speak English. I sometimes wonder if people are chosen for their communication problems in some customer "service" positions. When customers are just calling to complain, get assistance, cancel subscriptions, or dispute billing errors, it's not in the company's best interest to be entirely helpful. I have to wonder if they are put up as more of an obstacle than anything else.

While globalization of the world's economy will inevitably hurt our overall wealth in America as money and business is re-allocated elsewhere, I think in the broad scheme of things, it is a good thing. Sure we may have to turn in our second car, or our big screen TVs so a couple hundred kids can afford food in Africa, but I'm personally ok with that tradeoff. In the end, humanity as a whole will become richer. New economies will open up, more resources will be found. People who used to spend all their time dying will be able to contribute to the world's production. The end result is more wealth to go around, even if we have to share it more evenly.

Wow. Talk about your ugly American, Sam. Why would you not expect to hear an accent from somewhere else in the world? Did you think your bank only did business in the good ole USA? Have you not heard our economy is in such poor condition right now that if your bank wasn't investing in other countries--including tapping into their labor forces--your bank probably would have collapsed already.

And who said the man in Bombay didn't understand English, Mike? Sam said he was the one with the understanding impediment.

You're right about globalization, though, Mike. Americans have been hogging up world resources for years, and recent generations feel a sense of entitlement. "Global" applies to more than economy; it means recognizing that we're not alone here, and we ARE NOT God's chosen people. In fact, where is it written that a choice was made?

sam post,

you are a great blogger, because great bloggers provide their readers with something to comment on!

and about some of those comments... mike comments that maybe call center reps are chosen for their poor command of english specifically to foil customer complaints. i'd like to remind people who think that way that, in reality, it costs pennies on the dollar for a company like sprint or citibank to run a call center out of bombay compared to, say, salt lake city.

this is not an example of the global economy "spreading the wealth." this is an example of how people who hold wealth consolidate it into their own coffers while making working class americans struggle to maintain their former standard of living and at the same time perpetuating relative poverty across the oceans.

in this light, the global economy isn't about sharing resources, it's the new face of colonialism.

Viva America! So says writer lady.

I once sat on an airplane with a gentleman that was very high up in the Dell corporation and he discussed the problem with me regarding foreign call centers.  The problem was that their competitors were all using indian call centers and Dell could not afford to use the american call centers because of the high costs.  They however moved their business support call centers back to the US because they were losing customers.  To me I would rather pay more and have an person fluent in english  but also someone that understands our culture.  I notice that many times if a person is outside the US they just don't have the same understanding or appreciation of my value as a customer.  They tend to be very rule oriented and not as interested in whether my problem gets solved.  Don't get me wrong, I love other types of people and want them to succeed and be happy.  I just don't want to be the one that personally suffers for it.    

Writer lady can we use your guilt energy to power a vehicle? ;)

How will we ascertain MPG (Miles Per Guilt)? We'd maybe get further with my ugly righteous indignation. Yuk it up, Kurt.

Just a consideration, but the global economy isn't entirely the new face of colonialism as one might think.  Whenever expanding markets outside a stable base (such as America more or less), there is bound to be some imbalances until sooner or later the markets begin to merge, and the disparities between the average income lessen.

One very important thing to note, is that simply because we are exporting jobs into other countries does not mean we're importing their poverty.  Just because a foreign worker gets paid about $2 USD an hour does not mean he is poor where he lives.  In America, sure, 2 bucks an hour is difficult to live on.  But I have heard personally from people who have been there that what we consider meager wages is enough to buy a car, pay for insurance, have a place to live, and buy some groceries.  Now a king the person may not be, but it's a far cry from the image of absolute destitution that seems to paint the picture of many a foreign laborer.  Note that I'm certainly not trying to generalize here, and I do recognize the existence and danger of true 'sweat shops'.  But I believe nonetheless there needs to be shown the actual form of a global economy, because globalization, for better or worse, is inevitable.

I agree it's coming and there is little we can do about it, except the best we can.  I do also understand theoretically that overall there will be a great deal of wealth created.  There are problems however in my opinion.  We have over two hundred nations all with individual agendas and emerging powers such as China, India and Russia vying for their share in the redistribution of resources, jobs and wealth.  I predict that many of our very wealthy citizens will spread their investments and abandon the US as their home. To speak very broadly, we are going down a very bumpy road and it could easily lead to warfare.  I don't see a way around it at this time.  The first emperor of China had an idea how to deal with some of the issues we face today.  I hope seriously we don't come to the same conclusion when options become scarce.