Thomas L. Friedman's article, "30 Little Turtles", does an excellent job of making the reader feel good about outsourcing jobs, however, many of the ideas Friedman states are generalized by his few experiences visiting call centers in India. Friedman talks about how Indians are thrilled to work in call centers and it has positiely effected their lives by either allowing them to recieve a college degree or just by giving them self-confidence. However, he over generalizes all Indians with the few that he met in his village.
Stephanie Malinowski's response to Friedman's article produces so very strong points. Stephanie shows how Friedman creates points almost seemingly to just make the reader feel happy about outsourcing, therefore some of the points appear to be erroneous. Because of the fact that Friedman only saw a few Indians during his visit, how can he claim that all Idians love working at call centers. He also states that a call center is a deadend job. If a job is deadend and the sallary is not very high, how can a person be satisfied with where they work?
I can't personally say whether or not all Indians love working at call centers because I have not done any research on the topic, nor have I talked to any/all of the Indians that work in them. Friedman definately shows us that some Indians must be satisfied with their job so we do know that not all Indians hate working in outsourcing. I think Friedman's article could have been much stronger if he wouldn't have over generalized the employees of the jobs and would have just talked about that certain branch of employees loving their jobs.
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I like how you've personalized your blog, Dan. You're off to a good start with your posts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment of Barry. The student's perspective complements the adult-professional's. I think your response to Friedman, however, misses his primary point. He's not just praising outsourcing for enhancing the quality of life of Indians. The thesis of his piece comes at the end when he argues that outsourcing increases the U.S.'s national security. Because Malinowski's response is primarily a rhetorical critique, she focuses on several points in his essay. If she were to write an ideas critique, she would need to primarily respond to F's thesis.
Keep up the good work.