On 17 Nov 2006 14:00:12 GMT, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

On Fri, 17 Nov 2006 05:10:35 -0600, Prometheus wrote:

I'm with you on the "service economy" nonsense- I don't think that even
includes maintenance in most cases. As far as I can tell, it's
referring to short-order cooks and shelf stockers, though I have to hope
for all our sakes that it means something else.

Hate to tell you but it most assuredly does include maintenance. IBM
considers itself to be a service company and is considered to be part of
the service economy, and if you've ever had anything fixed under an IBM
service contract you'll know they're serious about it. Doctors and lawyers
and most other "professions" are providing services. If it's not making
something or moving something then it's probably a service.

Nope- never had anything fixed by IBM. I guess I was thinking of the
FANUC maintenance guys that all seem to be from other parts of the
world (at least going by the very thick accents I've heard from most
of them, though YMMV) and the delightful Indian voices that answer the
phones whenever I try to get a problem with just about anything
resolved.

Here's the problem with doctors and lawyers as the basis of an
economy, though- it's too circular and localized. While they're jobs
that pay well and are valuable in their own right, not everyone can do
them. We're not (as far as I know) outsourcing medical personnel and
legal advice to other countries on any signifigant basis. Hence the
comment about cooks and stockers- those are the service industry jobs
that the great majority of displaced factory workers are doing, and
they do little or nothing to bring money into our country. When those
people were making things, money was coming in- now, it's going out.

So, the professionals are making money, and that's good for the folks
who are providing these services- but what happens when we're
dependant on the rest of the world for all our tangible goods, but
they decide that they can provide thier own services and don't require
those of the US? All the money in the world won't buy even a box of
nails if there is no one around to make them. Services are important,
sure- but given the choice between that or food, clothing and housing,
I'll choose the physical requirements for survival first every time.

Hell... I've even been hearing radio ads about a new "exciting and
rewarding career opportunity" selling crap on eBay. Didn't anyone
learn the lessions of the first internet bubble? We can't all be
rich, and we can't all be peddlers- somebody has to produce wealth in
the first place.

No matter how far our society progresses, and how different it
becomes, we will always need the basics- I don't know about you, but I
am not comfortable with the idea of everything I need to survive being
produced in another country. Especially when we've got a government
and citizenry that seems to think that the rest of the world doesn't
matter at all, and we can treat anyone and everyone else like ****
with impunity.