OK, outsourcing does not equal slavery. That said, we all do stereotype all the time. For example, you probably thought from reading my comment that I'm a fat,

OK, outsourcing does not equal slavery. That said, we all do stereotype all the time. For example, you probably thought from reading my comment that I'm a fat, lazy American teenager with a sense of entitlement :) I lived in Russia in the 90s, and I saw exactly the opposite effect from the one you describe first-hand. There were people coming from English-speaking countries who could get management-level jobs mostly by virtue of coming from an English-speaking country. I knew some personally, and I don't hold it against them at all. They were seen as having an understanding of how the capitalist world works, and this was valued (whether or not this was true). After a decade, the people were not seeing the quick returns from the switch to capitalism that they were hoping for. As a result, the general attitude towards the West in Russia has changed. You can read all about it in the news. I also have friends back in Russia, who work for an outsourcing company. The majority of programming jobs there that pay a livable salary are outsource. There are few Russian companies that work on original products of their own (Parallels comes to mind). I hold no illusions. As long as the US market remains the largest, that's where the money will be, and outsourcing will remain a viable strategy. Does the idealist in me wish that the people working outsourced positions could access this market directly, without effectively paying a middleman? Or better yet, have a thriving local market? Yes, but I realize this just won't happen.