SLAVE labor? Just a darn minute...

[dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com]

> 
> ...it is understandable for employers to...use slave labor from overseas...

Who are you calling a slave?

One of our clients works with a test and development house in Bangalore, and I've become friends with several of the programmers over the course of various projects.  I can tell you they are *very* happy to have good jobs at what are *excellent* rates for their economy.  Some of them have worked in Silicon Valley and chosen to return to India--even for lower rates--to be close to relatives or raise children in their own culture.  I'm sure they would object to being called slaves.

Yes, I am uncomfortable with the thought of someone overseas being paid less than the same labor would cost in the U.S., but it's not as simple as the picture being painted in this thread.

At least in the case of these developers working for that company, they are very pleased with the arrangement.

There is evidence of slavery of various kinds in this world; but it isn't programmers and tech writers, for goodness sake.  Let's not get too emotional about this topic, and try to keep inflammatory dogma out of the discussion.

By the way, I utterly reject the contention that my Indian friends are in any way responsible for the current state of the tech writing job market...or any other aspect of the high-tech slump.  If you feel compelled to blame someone, there are plenty of candidates right here in our own country.

--David 

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