On the issue of outsourcing, Mike says, “Let that overweight American middle class trim down their decadent ways and compete in the global economy rather than cry foul at the intellectual and professional emancipation of our third world.”

That annoys me, partly because I’m part of that American middle class, and I don’t like being painted with the broad brush of “overweight, burger-eating, SUV-owning American” any more than Filipinos enjoy being referred to as “little brown brothers.” I work long, hard hours earning just enough to live a simple apartment-dweller’s life here in Washington, and after all that, it riles me to be shunted along with other Americans into the grossly generalized straw man of the “whiny decadent Westerner,” simply because, yes, I too am concerned about my field of work being taken over by offshore workers. (Not to the extent, however, that I would support thinly veiled bigotry in the name of secure employment.)

Besides, I would hardly characterize outsourcing as an “intellectual and professional emancipation of the third world.” Are companies which outsource helping to improve the quality of life in the regions from which they hire offshore workers, or is Corporate America simply using long-distance technology to capitalize on the lower cost of living and cheap labor readily available through poorer countries? If it’s the latter, then that’s not emancipation, it’s abuse, and that’s an even worse travesty than the stereotypical perception of American decadence.

(That disagreement aside, do go check out Rush Hour Hell. Mike’s been a friend and colleague since we were little boys in school. He got me into PEX and recommended me to grad school. And he windsurfs.)