Like many I work for a large corporation. My company happens to be in the healthcare industry, so you might think that people are important to them. This is not so. Today we received word that the company was planning to transfer its transcription services over to another company. To be exact, they are outsourcing to India. I never thought that as a freedom loving, liberal hippie I would feel so strongly against outsourcing. My feelings have grown recently as the economy continues to take a dive despite what my faithful television tells me and every family that I know has an unemployed adult in it. These are people that have dedicated years of their lives to unions like the UFT or Fire Department and now they are getting fucked up the ass with a splintered broomstick.

I was personally disgusted as my office manager gave the well dressed Indian men a tour of our office and introduced them to the doctors and staff. I didn't want to put a smiling friendly face on the company that was forcing a delightful department of women into unemployment. I don't care that these are Indian people. They could be any other country, and I would not like the idea of outsourcing the service that is provided by the transcription department. There is a language barrier there that is a constant problem in terms of understanding the usage of words in English in a conversational way. For example, a letter might state, " I prescribed Flomax for three week's and instructed the patient to follow up with appointment." Do you see the errors there? Then there is the mad scramble to correct the work and send it back. This isn't an occasional problem but a recurring one. I also have a problem with the fact that if I have to discuss something with the transcription department all I have to do is walk down the hall. Yes, I could call this company on the phone in theory, but its not the same. I guess I am spoiled by the convenience. But I am also friends with these women. If they lose their jobs, their kids don't eat, they lose their homes, lives are devastated.

This is a problem that is growing all over the country. Think about your own circle of family and friends and the people in your community. How many people do you know that have been laid off due to budget cuts and outsourcing? I feel bad for the poverty in other countries like India because as they get more and more jobs that are coming into their company from large corporations, are their lives improving? Is the poverty level rising? Are they getting decent wages and health care? I don't really have answers to those questions until I do some research. I think of all the manufacturing plants that have moved to Mexico and Latin America. The lives of those people haven't improved. They don't call 'em sweat shops for nothin'. In Columbia the Coca Cola Company hired mercenaries to kill the workers that were trying to unionize. Nice, right?

The only way to change this is to make sure to vote in November. I was talking to a coworker who was ranting about the outsourcing scandal and I told her point blank, you said you weren't going to vote this year, but if you are so upset about this problem than it is up to you to vote for a candidate that will fix this outsourcing problem that has intensified under the current administration. Put your money where your mouth is so to speak. That convinced her enough to do the right thing. I am tired of people complaining about the state of affairs and yet they don't vote. They don't protest. They don't rise up and fight the power. If we talk about accountability we must all point the finger at ourselves. What have we been doing to be more politically responsible and how can make more of a contribution? It's time for some soul searching, people.

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