Yes, from THEIR perspective, Chinese factory workers may feel as if they are improving their lot. Does that mean that those Chinese workers are not getting the shaft, even though people who are (or could) do their job in other countries would get paid a lot more? Lets face it, labor is tied to local conditions - are we to say"it's OK for a Chinese factory worker" to work in what we could consider to be inhumane conditions for a pittance (compared to what we would make) just because they feel "good" about it?
What "good" does it do ANYONE to work 14-16 hour days, 7 days per week, whilst leaving one's family behind for the better part of a working year? It really rankles when people start justifying what the wealthy and connected classes in ANY culture can do to justify paying the labor quotient in their businesses as little as possible. It's still, basically "screw the worker; I will get as much out of them as I can, for as little as possible". Instead of justifying this, call it what it is - exploitation of those with less relative power.
Incidentally, why should the yuan be considered less valuable than a dollar? I understand the supply and demand variables of foreign exchange, but isn't it convenient to have a monetary system that - based on currency values - makes one hour's work in one country only worth a fraction of that same hour's work in another country. How very convenient for developed nations,
Incidentally, I'm a tried-and-true capitalist. It's possible to treat workers fairly and make a profit. I see less and less of that these days - all around the world.
National borders have become more irrelevant as material distribution, finance, education, supply chains, etc. go " on the wire. That said, human beings evolved from small, tribal communities. Our human heritage has left us, for at least the time being - far beyond the near-long-term - with an embedded presence for tribal affiliation. National borders may dissolve, but other "borders" will take their place. "Difference" is a primary defining factor in identity. National identities are learned, yes - but they are learned because we have a proclivity for closely identifying with like -minded, like-language, and look-alike physical similarities. Even if the latter disappear, we will invent new realms of "difference" that will lead to conflict and negotiation. This is a part of the human dilemma: how to deal with and co-exist with "difference".
Until we evolve - assuming we are able - beyond beings who define ourselves via tribal likenesses, we will not be able to do away with the problems (and some rewards) of identifying with those who seem "like" we do. New categories will appear; some will be stronger in some ways; smarter in some ways, etc.
Undercover of helping immigrant agricultural workers who have long needed a break in America, the American technology sector - lead by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg - has seen fit to heavily lobby Congress to increase H1-B and other worker visa permits, vastly increasing H1-B visas at a time when very good research shows that there is no shortage of tech workers in America. Zuckerberg has so far succeeded, in the Senate. What is motivating the claim for more H1-B visas?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
One of the most respected technology pundits in Silicon Valley has this to say about the H1-B worker problem and Two H1-B's walk into a Bar: More on the H1-B visa problem
One of many examples of what goes on behind closed doors: an immigration attorney and his consultants teaching corporations how to manipulate foreign-worker immigration law to replace qualified American workers.
H1-B's are only the tip of the iceberg; there are more than 20 categories of foreign worker visas.
Professor Norman Matloff's extremely well documented studies on the H1-B and foreign worker visa problem. Matloff claims that Hi-B abuse has cost Americans $10Trillion dollars, since 1975. Inc. Magazine weights in Professor Matloff's Webpage
Mother Jones weighs in:How H1-B visa abuse is hurting American tech workers
How H1-B malpractice hurts the American economy
Most of the new crop of H1-Bs is coming from one of the most corrupt university systems in the world.
How the new immigration bill could ignite a trade war with India
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro