4 ms·

Why is outsourcing unethical?

rpkoven 6y ago
I don’t think it’s unethical
DangitBobby 6y ago
It distributes more wealth to you by taking opportunities from those with less than you and giving them to someone desperate. Ethical actions are "rising tide lifts all boats" situations where either you help everyone make more money, or instead of taking from others, to make an extra buck, give of yourself. Within reason, of course. Then there are the second order effects, such as the dissolution of the middle class in your own country that everyone who outsources and automates is/will be partially responsible for.
- true_religion 6y ago
  So as one of those people living in a 3rd world country, let me say we aren’t particularly desperate. Relative purchasing power of money means that even a small amount goes a long way. Ubiquitous poverty means that no one feels particularly downtrodden in comparison to their peers. Also culturally, we tend to share the wealth, so what is one job in America will become 6 jobs here. From what I can see, outsourcing deprives one American of a job, makes one American desperate, and lifts 10 of us into the local middle class.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - DangitBobby 6y ago
    Sounds like a good deal for you. It doesn't really help here or change anything that I said about the ethics of the situation.
- zaptheimpaler 6y ago
  This is a zero-sum view.. just because you benefit doesn’t mean the other side suffers. You get the service you wanted, the other person gets the money they wanted. They wouldn’t be doing the job if they had a better option.
  - DangitBobby 6y ago
    It cannot be a zero sum view by definition, since I said that "rising tide lifts all boats" situations are ethical. I'm sure you know, such situations aren't possible in zero-sum. What can be zero-sum is if no new value is added, but you shuffle around who gets what. If Peter has a way to make $100 himself if someone else helps, and he decides to go from paying Mary $30 to paying Paul $5, he has enriched himself by taking from Mary. I'm saying it's ethical for Peter to enrich himself as long as he enriches everyone, and it is unethical to take from others to give to himself.
    - zaptheimpaler 6y ago
      $5 in Thailand might go as far as $20 in Dallas, which goes as far as $30 in New York. So if you take $30 from Mary in NY and give the equivalent of $20 to Jane in Dallas, is that unethical too? Or give $5 to someone in Thailand? At worst you could call it unpatriotic if you hire outside your country, but on a humanity scale its very hard to say its unethical or even truly understand the consequences.
abiogenesis 6y ago
It is not outsourcing that is unethical but to advertise it like a magical way of working less. The title of the book makes it sound like you can accomplish more by working less, while in fact the remaining 36 hours worth of work is done by someone else every week. Think of it that way: How would someone from one of the developing countries the book mentions would benefit from what's written in that book?
- andi999 6y ago
  Easy. He would see that there is a business opportunity for him to sell outsourcing services to a developed country, which he would not have thought so before.
  - abiogenesis 6y ago
    Fair enough, but that's an unintentional side effect. He can't do that by working 4 hours a day, at least not by following the recommendations in that book.
pietrovismara 6y ago
Just answer this question:in a world with no poor countries, would outsourcing be possible? If the answer is no, then outsourcing is based on exploiting poverty and no, it's not ethical.
- nelsondev 6y ago
  Giving a poor person a job is not “exploiting poverty”, it’s alleviating poverty.
  - pietrovismara 6y ago
    Giving a poor person an underpaid job is not helping them. Is making them "an offer they can't refuse". You want to alleviate poverty? Pay for their education, healthcare, give them a house. They'll pull themselves out of poverty without need for your exploitative job offer.
    - andi999 6y ago
      So the north Korea model? Free housing, education and Healthcare. Let's see how this will work out with the pulling out of poverty.

I don’t think it’s unethical

It distributes more wealth to you by taking opportunities from those with less than you and giving them to someone desperate. Ethical actions are "rising tide lifts all boats" situations where either you help everyone make more money, or instead of taking from others, to make an extra buck, give of yourself. Within reason, of course. Then there are the second order effects, such as the dissolution of the middle class in your own country that everyone who outsources and automates is/will be partially responsible for.

true_religion 6y ago
So as one of those people living in a 3rd world country, let me say we aren’t particularly desperate. Relative purchasing power of money means that even a small amount goes a long way. Ubiquitous poverty means that no one feels particularly downtrodden in comparison to their peers. Also culturally, we tend to share the wealth, so what is one job in America will become 6 jobs here. From what I can see, outsourcing deprives one American of a job, makes one American desperate, and lifts 10 of us into the local middle class.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- DangitBobby 6y ago
  Sounds like a good deal for you. It doesn't really help here or change anything that I said about the ethics of the situation.
zaptheimpaler 6y ago
This is a zero-sum view.. just because you benefit doesn’t mean the other side suffers. You get the service you wanted, the other person gets the money they wanted. They wouldn’t be doing the job if they had a better option.
- DangitBobby 6y ago
  It cannot be a zero sum view by definition, since I said that "rising tide lifts all boats" situations are ethical. I'm sure you know, such situations aren't possible in zero-sum. What can be zero-sum is if no new value is added, but you shuffle around who gets what. If Peter has a way to make $100 himself if someone else helps, and he decides to go from paying Mary $30 to paying Paul $5, he has enriched himself by taking from Mary. I'm saying it's ethical for Peter to enrich himself as long as he enriches everyone, and it is unethical to take from others to give to himself.
  - zaptheimpaler 6y ago
    $5 in Thailand might go as far as $20 in Dallas, which goes as far as $30 in New York. So if you take $30 from Mary in NY and give the equivalent of $20 to Jane in Dallas, is that unethical too? Or give $5 to someone in Thailand? At worst you could call it unpatriotic if you hire outside your country, but on a humanity scale its very hard to say its unethical or even truly understand the consequences.

abiogenesis 6y ago

It is not outsourcing that is unethical but to advertise it like a magical way of working less. The title of the book makes it sound like you can accomplish more by working less, while in fact the remaining 36 hours worth of work is done by someone else every week. Think of it that way: How would someone from one of the developing countries the book mentions would benefit from what's written in that book?

andi999 6y ago
Easy. He would see that there is a business opportunity for him to sell outsourcing services to a developed country, which he would not have thought so before.
- abiogenesis 6y ago
  Fair enough, but that's an unintentional side effect. He can't do that by working 4 hours a day, at least not by following the recommendations in that book.

pietrovismara 6y ago

Just answer this question:in a world with no poor countries, would outsourcing be possible? If the answer is no, then outsourcing is based on exploiting poverty and no, it's not ethical.

nelsondev 6y ago
Giving a poor person a job is not “exploiting poverty”, it’s alleviating poverty.
- pietrovismara 6y ago
  Giving a poor person an underpaid job is not helping them. Is making them "an offer they can't refuse". You want to alleviate poverty? Pay for their education, healthcare, give them a house. They'll pull themselves out of poverty without need for your exploitative job offer.
  - andi999 6y ago
    So the north Korea model? Free housing, education and Healthcare. Let's see how this will work out with the pulling out of poverty.