Jeremy wrote:
] ... high-paying jobs filled by cheap foreign labor.
]
I think that the buck will stop here. When the rich are threatened, action is usually taken. If anyone cared throughout the 80's, they would have found that while they were getting rich in cyberspace, the working middle class became the unemployed untouchables of the west. No one cared then. They are still largely unemployed. But don't worry, when dell threatens to send six-figure salary jobs overseas, hell will rise.

] Think of the long-term consequences.

The rich won't be able to afford Perrier for their bath water anymore. Maybe they won't be able to afford their cocaine, Britney Spears CD's, subscription to Forbes and their venezuelan maid. They will have to {GASP} wash their OWN clothes and wipe their own asses. God forbid. Oh, well, I know as well as some of you that there are at least 20 meals that you can make with Ramen noodles as the base. I recomment Top Ramen. They're cheaper than Maruchen.
]
] What will America be like 50 years from now?

It will be called Canada and it will have a lot more places to play hockey and go skiing, and no pesky border guards till you get to Lemuria.
]
] Will we be a nation of service providers and salespeople who
] pitch only foreign products to each other?

And this would be different from now in what way? There will always be overpaid pro sports stars, talentlessly rich singers and actors, and don't forget about crime syndicates. These are wonderful ways to make a living.
]
] Surely a nation where all of our goods are 10 percent
] cheaper is not superior to a nation in which most of the
] population is gainfully employed.

Gainfully employed? What does that mean? Sorry, I was born after the hippies took over.
]
]
] This is a letter in response to the "Bracing for the Blow"
] article from a few days ago.
]
] Asking questions, but still missing the point.

Maybe I will get some of the "blow" when all this wealth gets redistributed. Can't afford it now. Gotta make due with my bottle of AppleJack.