Tough Choices Have Real Consequences (Part 1)

Moving to another country is a choice everyone has to make for themselves, and off course if the company wants you to move they have to pay for it.

Hi Doug, very interesting topic. I'm not American and have only been there once. One observation I'd like to make about America that I think Australians and Europeans generally share, is that while the OPPORTUNITY may be there for the better job, home, food, etc, for many Americans, it is simply not within reach. It may be your skin colour, upbringing, or the intelligence/drive you were born with: if these factors aren't right you can end up living on the streets. I never saw so many homeless people on the streets as I did in San Fransisco. (Mind you, I've never been to a "third world" country.) And your jail population is incredibly high.

As for moving to India for a job - this has me mystified and I am not familiar with what is going on in that situation, but for me the short answer would definately be NO!

My parents moved from Europe to Australia decades ago and while it worked out ok in the end it is not a path I could recommend to anyone. Home is home and home is best.

Hi Doug,

My situation was similar to Frankston, my parents came to Australia when I was but a pup (10 years old), in 1950. Not that I had any say in it, I think it was a great move, although I may not have at the time.

Whilst serving time at Her Majesty's pleasure, in the Grey Funnel Line (Royal Australian Navy), I visited many South East Asian countries, New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, UK, Germany etc............there was always one thing, that after these tours of duty, I was always glad to get back to good old Australia.........after seeing how the other half live.

I have never been to the states...........I hope to rectify that next June..........if work commitments allow...........fingers crossed, they will.

Although I had a recent offer to change jobs for an extra AUS$100/day (interstate), I was not interested, after all, my children and 9 grand children are all in Adelaide, South Australia.........I am also 69 in 2 months, but I do not really think that I would have accepted the offer, had I been younger.

Like Frankston, why would anyone want to move to India, China, Middle East, etc. just for the sake of the almighty dollar........no thank you............some of the places are not even nice places to visit, let alone work there.

There's no place like home............

Hi Dr.Doug,good

I am Dr.Ram (www.artecrobotics.com). Congratulations on a very frank self evaluation by an American-which is typical of Americans in general-and that's what makes America a great country.Now, you are right that America has enabled development of the free world (even while enriching itself).This very development is hurting America and is likely to hurt it even more in the near and foreseeable future, unless America re-invents itself-as it is always wont to do!!

The present generation, post the "Baby-boomers" are not as good as needed, because there is no incentive to do anything as Americans have already arrived in Utopia. Let them take it easy and allow the rest of the world (the tortoises) to catch up, when like the proverbial Hare, they can start bounding again.

This is not a matter of worry at all.

The only thing the rest of the world may want of the Americans is to give up the gas-guzzlers and be content with 0-60mph in10 to 15 seconds instead of the 6 or 4 seconds. Enough damage (Global warming) has been done already.

Best regards

Ram

ALL HAIL GLOBILISATION, Since the mid 70s I have worked in just about every corner of the world, and yes I agree that in most of the developed counties we have less incentive to advance as we live in relative comfort, even if that comfort comes from the sacrifice and work from previous generations. If the developed countries want to keep there labor force in there own counties then they must be prepared to pay higher prices for goods manufactured in the developed countries. Should we impoverish the workforce in the developed countries down to the level of some of the developing counties just to make us more competitive? Good old unregulated capitalism, see what a great job it had on the world banking system.

Interesting evaluation...Interesting comments. Being in correctional education I'm afraid I see the direct effects of the entitlement mentality. This is something my coworkers and I discuss frequently. Students in general and incarcerated students in particular, see the world as being against them. So many of my students have grown up on well-fare in section 8 housing that they don't even consider working and earning a living as a choice.

In regular high school, students and parents blame teachers for their bad grade instead of working hard. On top of that, they complain when the students have not learned what they should have because of grade inflation. During my time as a university teaching assistant, I saw the same thing at the university level.

Have you been out to eat lately? The entitlement generation is starting to take over. They are rude, inconsiderate and expect you to give everything. Consider the 20-something waiter that "expects" gratuity rather than serving you well for it.

I could really go on a tangent here, but our nation is in serious trouble. Until we do something it will continue....

Hi DAG,

You did well...........they have a chip on their shoulder and consider that the the world owes them something..........we have them here in Australia as well..........they would not work in an iron lung and their feet in a barrel of yeast............the trouble is the government gives the too much money on the dole.............still if the government didn't do that the crime rate would increase.........like you DAG this is something that gets up my nose.

Hooray! Dis heah proves it! Mah boy don't need to pay no tenshun to dat stupid engrish teacher no more. He kin go all the way to-a phd makin the same errors he jist got failed for.

"is" instead-uh "it" ... "you can" instead of "can you" (interrogative usage) ... "little" instead of "few" (with the plural "guarantees") ... "whether that" instead of "whether or not"...

C'mon ~ ain't it time we start a petition to git Macrosoft to de-bloat their products (to bring the price down) ... startin wit eliminatin the stupit spellin-&-grammer-chekker!?

-to-

I have been reading and following your threads. I am glad that it has sparked some conversations across the globe.

I think an important element to consider is the casting of generalizations as we each make our point via free, open and respectful dialogue.

With that said, the following statement you made, "…And honestly, too many executives in America make too damn much money for doing very little. So it is no wonder that the little guy dreams about more money and better jobs....."

Yes, I understand the media has exposed many bad and greedy people. But that is always the case; the unique difference here is that this involves money. Big money. And our taxes. I am not defending anyone. I believe we each make our choices and accept the consequences of those actions…good, bad or indifferent. Yes, there are some bad executives as there are some bad teachers, some bad lawyers, some bad doctors, some bad religious heads, some bad politicians, etc.

However, to my original point of self-entitlement – America has created more well…America and now we are apparently paying the price that comes along with freedom to educate, create, choose, build, leverage and capitalize.

To say that "too many executives make too damn much money for doing very little" is, and I say this with all due respect, is quite a large scoping assumption. People are not born "executives." They work to earn that spot. Now, whether they are over paid or not is really very subjective isn't it? I mean, somehow, someway the supply-demand curve decided that specific salary package for that specific person. What is right or wrong at the time? Who knows. All we do know is that it was what the market value was for that job. Now the market value has changed and with it should our expectations.

Who is to decide what value really is? Should the teacher or police officer or fireman or military soldier get paid millions to do their job? Maybe. Should the professional athlete get paid tens of thousands? Maybe. Salaries are a function of whatever the market will allow. To say that one person should get paid more than another person really has everything to do with what society feels that person's contribution in that specific occupation is really worth and what the market will pay for it.

Do I personally think it is wrong for a teacher to get paid 40k a year to teach our children (our future) while a professional athlete gets paid millions to throw a football? Yes, but I don't make the rules (society as a collective soul seems to) – and it appears that more people like to watch and attend football games (which attracts sponsors and tv revenue) than they do to watch and attend events where the main attraction is teachers teaching at schools.

What is most compelling about America is the commitment to "Freedom" and more specifically freedom to choose. We all have that choice – yes, I know some have more barriers to overcome depending on where they live, how much money they have, etc; but that does not mean the opportunity is not there (as with some countries). We all can work and make the needed sacrifices to become doctors or lawyers or teachers or financial advisors or executives or politicians or whatever WE WANT. I put forth the possibility that what we are experiencing now is a correction to the system and it is the price for freedom to choose. Hopefully the global lesson our children and future generations will take from this experience is not to take it for granted because it can go out of control if not monitored and tweaked from time to time. America made a mistake. The world watches. We all are impacted by it. We all pay for it with our jobs or our taxes – what really matters, however is will we learn the lesson?

And to sum up my posts for part 1 and part 2, I would have to say that I am not so sure we will.

Thank you, "NoturOridinaryJoe" for your post. Excellent discussion.

Dr Doug

People have always been able to make money by traveling overseas. Most of the start up folks I ran into during various plant start ups were always coming back from some far corner of the Earth. It is a choice you make and it has impacts, both positive and negative for your life. In my opinion, they are mostly negative because it means time away from family.

Things have come and gone in the US and they will continue to do so. A lot of industry and chemicals have moved on, for example I don't think there are more than one or two magnesium plants left in this country. Maybe it is time for some other things to move on as well. Life will continue to evolve out of the control of everyone and it will mean that some rise and some fall, the trick is to not become obsessed with it and bring you down.

When people define happiness/success as whether or not they are rolling on 22s and have a 6 bedroom house with a cell phone that can call in an air strike, chances are that they are not going to be happy nor will they feel successful. It is tough to avoid all the materialism but in the long run I think it makes you happier.