WHY MIDDLE-CLASS IS VANISHING FROM OUR LIVES??

On the last post, we stated that CRISIS equals DUALITY; thus it has both a dark side and a positive side.

In this post, we are going to talk, first, about the dark side; simply because, we are more used to negative news thanks to media (good news does not sell)

Experts say that MIDDLE-CLASS is vanishing gradually, because of 8 main reasons:

1.Globalization & Outsourcing

2. Merges & Aquisitions

3. Re-engineerings

4. Franchises & Big Distribution Companies

5. The emerging role of China & India

6. Industrial Automatizations

7. The socio-economic role Colleges & Universities play

8. Social Insurance and Retirement Plans

Let see one by one  the concepts written above for our better understanding:

GLOBALIZATION & OUTSOURCING

If you have the chance, I thoroughly recommend you buy and read 2 great books: "Earth is Flat"  by Thomas L. Friedman and  "Why we want you to be Rich" by Donald Trump & Robert T. Kiyosaki

GLOBALIZATION  is now part of our day-to-day language and its consequence goes everywhere from your job to businesses and homes

GLOBALIZATION have had, mainly 3 stages:

Stage A) From 1492 to 1800, when exchange of goods, services, products and ideas were made only among countries and government executives

Stage B) From 1800 to 2000, when corporate power appeared, and exchange of goods, services, products and ideas were made only among MNE's (MultiNational Enterprises)

Stage C) From 2000 till today, globalization turned around to INDIVIDUALS from all kinds of races, creeds and nationalities. Now, any single person "globalize" by him/herself.

And what about Outsourcing??. Well, for those who does not know, Outsourcing comes from two words in english OUT + SOURCE. It is an economic term used to designate the act of hire and contract companies or employees from out of our enterprise, town or country.

Here are some examples of Outsourcing:

The case of INDIA

• In 2006, there were 245,000 indians working in Call Centers. 700 apply on a daily basis but only 6% is hired. What about the other 94%??? They are hired by other foreign companies.

• American citizen's TAX return forms, done by indian accountants located in India, are raising:

2003—25,000 persons     

2004---100,000 persons   

2005---400,000 persons

• Talking of indian accountants: 70,000 accountants graduate from universities annually, and their salary is USD $100 A MONTH!!!. Now, you start figuring out why indian accountants are more hired than others elsewhere??

The case of the PHILLIPINES

Every year, more Latinamerican companies migrate to this country, because they can hire 5 employees that speak spanish for the price of 1 in their own country.

There are some examples of Outsourcing in the USA, too. Do you know McDonald's Auto-Mac? I'm sure you do. Well, there is the case of one McDonald's Auto-Mac located in Girardeau, Missouri; where, by the time you are placing your order, the person behind the microphone is located OUT of the USA, in China, and from there, he/she makes your transaction from your credit/debit card...... can you imagine??!!! This phenomena is a direct threaten to job positions.

There are also examples around restaurant's booking procedures: you know a restaurant in your town area, you dial locally, but someone answers in Panama, the Phillipines, India, etc.. and they have a screen where they locate exactly where your table is and the area for your reservation...... incredible!!!, isn't it?? Who do you think they will hire to do this kind of work?

• We have also the famous E-learning: Electronic Distance Learning. Nowadays, you can learn without even attend phisically to the campus of any University or College worldwide!!! Just think, what will happened to the traditional education system?

• Thanks to both Globalization and Outsourcing, now you can find legal and medical advisory trough internet half-price from any place in the whole world!!!. What do you think would happen to the lawyer or doctor, in your town, who still works in his office?

The best sample of the effects of both Globalization and Outsourcing, is the computer your using to read this. Do you really know how this computer came to your hands??

You are using technology developed by Bill Gates,

with taiwanese chips and a monitor made in Korea,

Assambled by bangladeshi workers in a factory in Singapore.

Landed by indian drivers,

Aired by indonesian pilots,

Downloaded in port by sicilians,

And taken to the store by illegal mexicans...........That's GLOBALIZATION and OUTSOURCING!!!!

Nowadays, think and be GLOBAL, is not a matter of election but survival

Looking forward for your comments

On the next post, we will see more of the threatens from the Dark side.......

INTRODUCTION

Hello friend,

The next article does not intend to sell or convince you of anything; the real intention of these lines and subsequent posts is to expose and aware you of how the "rules of the game" have changed.... further, I would say. it is a complete new game with new rules, from which the whole population worldwide -you and your beloved ones, inclusive- have been affected at either positive or negative ways.

It is clear that everyone -me as well- is entering into a New Era, in where, on one hand,  economic, industrial, environmental, religious, academical, political and family institutions are breaking down everywhere; however, on the other side of the coin, new ways of managing economics and industries, caring about the environment and education, etc.., are blossoming; further more, secrets that have been hidden for long time are now unleashed, and access to information is, practically, instantaneous. Now, we have the power to choose and compare other sources of information and get rid of those that are biased .

Thanks to this article -and the next posts-, you and me will learn how to deal with this "new game" we are already in, its rules and how to take advantage of it, without hurting others, of course, but help them.

It does not matter what you do for a living, what you are studying or what your profession is: we all live in the same planet, we are part of only one world, one global economy and, because of that, what others do, affects us.... or maybe you think, you are beyond the economy, or beyond any social, political, religious, financial, environmental problem; if you do, I have to tell you, you are highly wrong, specially in CRISIS periods of all kinds, like the one we are now experiencing.

Let's begin with the economic-financial part, which is the easiest to swallow.

Statistics said, that after 40 years of labour life, people end as following:

* RICH.................................................................... 1%

* FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT..............…… 4%

* STILL WORKING.................................………. 5%

* DEATH.....…………………………………….. 36%

* BROKE....……………………………………… 54%

To which group would you like to belong?

STRESS, has determined people's quality of life: from the 36% who passed away, an amazing 50% dies because of heart attacks and the majority of these attacks happened on Monday; other 50% dies for cancer. These diseases are modern and expanding very fast!!!! Could they be related to our modern way of living?, Could financial pressures influence? Positively, YES!!!!

Everywhere in the media, we watch, listen and read alarming news about the financial crisis - a word that has become a fad in our language-, nevertheless, I would like to share with you a new definition I've just learned to this word. CRISIS, in chinese-mandarine, means DUALITY. To put it in another way, the world is like a balance: on one plate we've got poverty and on the other plate, we've got wealth; on one side we've got opportunity and on the other, failure....Even during the greatests unfortunes, fortunes have been done

As Alex Marquez, an expert in trends, said, as the solution to become crisis-proof :

"The main challenge -specially to hispanic people- is that we are nor accostumed to detect TRENDS and that is the reason why we are constantly victims, rather than PROTAGONISTS of the CHANGES"

To make it clearer, let's go to some obvious Trends from the past:

GLOBAL WARMING, experts have been warning us since the 70's and....Waht have we done?. For instance:

* A Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, in Sumatra on Dec/2004

* Hurricane Katrina in USA on Aug/2005

* A Huge Floaded in Tabasco, Mexico on Oct/2007

* An Earthquake in Sichuan, China on May/2008.....just three months before The Olympics!!

LANGUAGES, there are some languages that have become more and more popular, such as english, spanish, chinese-mandarine, dutch.....How many languages do you speak?

INTERNET, INFORMATICS, there is no doubt that these subjects are taking more strength among us..... How do you use Internet?

GLOBALIZATION, another popular word. Think and Be global, nowadays, is not a matter of election but survival; and not only at a commercial level but also at a personal and social levels......How many friends out of your country/town have you got?

It is said that History is the mother of Learning. Without pretending to be an historian nor give you a History lecture, neither; mankind evolution, in general, can be divided in 4 different chapters......Each more evolved than the previous one????

1.- HUNTING ERA: This age was caracterized for having people gathered in small groups (called tribes) and well defined castes, where everyone, from the priest or sorcerer, possessed the same amount and value of goods. people used to work 100% by their own. There were no machines or use of animals, only some rudimentary hand-tools.

2.- AGRICULTURAL ERA: In this age, tribes evolved to families and castes to classes. The concepts of slaves and landlords were created. Human beings learned to leverage their work using animals to obtain the fruits of the land.

3.- INDUSTRIAL ERA: Families evolved to cities and towns. A new class, that was neither wealthy nor poor, was created: the middle-class. Landlords became industrials and slaves, their employees. Unions, Pensions and Retirement Plans were created. Humans created materials that allowed them to create more material things, despite of the abuse of  nature and workers.

4.- DIGITAL INFORMATION ERA: Now, we are entering to a new age that remains the last three obsolete: Digital Information Age; in where, you can find a true spirit of colaboration and team work and industrials became entrepreneurs. Within this age, ideas are more valuable than things. An age where seeking to be in balance with nature and develope human potencial is a priority.

Eventhough, some experts talk about a new step in human evolution from Hommo Sapiens to Hommo Digitallis. The picture below illustrates that statement:

Looking forward for your comments

Hold on for the next post... it will be even more interesting!!!