| I don't think the rest of the world is filled with morons haha. The rest of the world is trying to improve their lives. However, I think you missed part of what I was saying, which patio11 actually touches on. The west, particularly America, is individualistic & meritocratic. This leads to a lot of self-interest & overall refines the system as a whole. It'll also spur competition in a free-market, as people leave to start competitors. Etc. This is in contrast to "salary men" in Japan. When you have globalization, you have: (1) The cheapest possible workforce will be used and will drive out competitors who have higher expenses (the west does) (2) Those goods are then exported and corners can be cut because there's little direct risk. (3) The companies themselves have no employees where they're selling their goods, so there's little feedback (besides profit) to employers. (4) Innovation & competition is dramatically reduced. To compete you effective need a very cheap workforce & sell below the larger players (who already have scale). The ultimate result ends up being, poorer & cheaper quality products, made by people who don't use the products. This actually increases the profit margin to corporations. Yet, it's ultimately a race to the bottom at that point. Anyone who attempts to produce a higher quality product has to be significantly more expensive, and often fails in the market. It's why most "high quality" brands have slowly been bought out by the more profitable (low cost) players, then their brand names are used like a skin suit (as their quality decreases). |