The Rise Of The Rest By Barbara Ehrenreich

Exporting the American Way During the twentieth century, America spearheaded an effort to liberalize markets around the world, creating a global economy. This global economy created by the United States has caused it to lose its position at the top of the economic pyramid to other rising countries. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Your Local News-Dateline Delhi,” Ehrenreich discusses the negative effects of job outsourcing in America as well as mocking the situation. Through Ehrenreich’s frame, America’s standing within the world is exemplified in Fareed Zakaria’s “The Rise of the Rest,” by showing how the U.S. is losing its place as number one in innovation. The U.S. is no longer an industrial powerhouse, and the Americans are no longer guaranteed

She states in her article that “American newspapers are axing good journalists,” (609) and are instead, replacing them with foreigners. Ehrenreich’s belief is a prime example of how the American public believes it’s entitled to jobs. According to Zakaria, “This [sense of entitlement]. . .is [considered by developing countries as] bigoted and outrageous,” (617) and many other countries believe they are entitled just as much as Americans for jobs. If America was so in favor of a global economy, jobs should be available to all citizens of the global economy, not reserved for specific societies within the global economy. In the American society, it is socially acceptable for an American to move away and work in another country, but when an immigrant comes to work within the U.S., controversy is brought with him or her. Ehrenreich’s belief is reminiscent of this hypocrisy: Americans are entitled to jobs in their homeland, and for the longest time, Americans were able to be entitled to jobs. Recently, other countries have been thrown in the mix and Americans finally have to compete. This is exactly what America was fighting for when in opened up foreign markets: a global capitalist society where countries no longer define the boundaries of a market. Now a job within the US isn’t truly an American job, but a global economy

Ehrenreich provides the example of the Indian reporter for Pasadena as proof that America is losing its grip on the global economy; however, she also states that the reporter “has a degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley,” (609). People from all over the globe try to make it into top American institutions, and it’s not because their own countries’ universities are filled up, it’s because America is, in a figurative sense, the center of the world; therefore, the best place to get an education to compete in the global economy is at the center of it. By outsourcing jobs, America has outsourced its culture and ideas. Countries who have had their markets opened by America have begun to reflect the American way. Zakaria discusses his encounter with a Chinese executive who was “Westernized in dress and demeanor, spoke excellent English, and could comfortably discuss the latest business trends or gossips about American culture,” (614). The Chinese man has appropriated himself completely in the American identity because that is what global culture is: the American culture. However, America has remained the center of the global economy and therefore its ideas and culture are the face of the global economy and will be until a major shift