Globalism -- Weighing Comparative Outsourcing

Globalism -- Weighing Comparative Outsourcing Issues

There is absolutely no question that globalization in general and the globalization of modern business and commerce is a reality. It is the future reality of the world just as international commerce and trade (and conflict) became a reality as soon as civilizations on different continents acquired the ability to traverse the high seas giving them access to remote regions of the world. On the other hand, there are ethical and socially responsible approaches to globalism and unethical and socially irresponsible approaches.

Free trade among nations is a valuable concept but requires certain fundamental conceptual restrictions and limitations to avoid various types of exploitation and inherent unfairness to consumers and manufacturers of products alike. Traditionally, sovereign nations have imposed import taxes and tariffs to benefit domestic business and to protect the economic interests of domestic business. In principle, there is nothing wrong with that necessarily. Likewise, domestic manufacturers have learned to outsource aspects of their business and manufacturing processes to take advantage of lower costs of materials and overhead abroad compared with domestic costs in those areas. In principle, there is nothing necessarily wrong with that either.

However, that is not to say that every form of outsourcing is necessarily as ethical or moral as others. It is one thing to rely on foreign materials and foreign labor because those materials and labor sources are less expensive than their domestic versions. However, not all outsourcing decisions are comparable. One obvious example of unethical outsourcing would include importing diamonds from Liberia or Sierra Leone (i.e. "blood diamonds") because they are cheaper than those sold by domestic diamond wholesalers. In that case, the ethical problem is the fact that diamonds from those regions are mined with forced labor or whose proceeds finance anti-government insurgents and warlords who terrorize, mutilate, and kill civilians in the process.

Another example of unethical globalization choices would be the irresponsible exploitation of child labor and, more generally, of extremely poor societies where local populations have no choice but to work long hours for pennies a day. In that regard, it is fundamentally unethical for product manufacturers based in nations with public policies and laws that prohibit exploitative wages and working conditions to outsource their manufacturing processes to foreign nations where there are no such local restrictions.