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Click
picture to enlarge
This
week's cartoon looks at "outsourcing," when U.S. companies
send jobs to other countries to save money.
This week's cartoon was drawn
by Emily Agosti, who last year was a ninth-grader at Elk County
Catholic High School in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. The cartoon
shows some people on what might be an airport walkway, and as
the sign says, they are "leaving the United States."
The "suitcases" they are carrying are labeled "Wal-Mart,"
"oil," "Hershey chocolate," "car industry,"
and "manufacturing." The cartoonist is trying to show
that these industries are sending jobs that used to be
held by U.S. workers to other countries, where workers are paid
less, sometimes called "outsourcing." In the past few
years, this has caused many U.S. workers to lose their jobs.
As companies try to compete with other companies all around the
world, they cut costs in any way that they can, and that often
means sending jobs to countries where labor is cheaper, like
Mexico. For instance, in the past two decades, the auto industry
has cut thousands of jobs in the U.S. and opened factories in
Mexico and other places. Do you know anyone affected by the
problems with the U.S. auto industry? Recently, Hershey,
maker of that all-American chocolate bar, also cut some U.S.
jobs and sent them to Mexico. Some people say outsourcing is
a price Americans pay because we want to buy things at low prices.
Wal-Mart is often credited with being the leader on "outsourcing,"
but a lot of American families rely on Wal-Mart's very low prices.
Do you think many people would pay higher prices to keep jobs
in the U.S. from being outsourced? Do you think this is a good
cartoon?
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Thought
questions:
What are the
advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing?
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For More
Information:
Click here to find out more about the NewsCurrents
Student Editorial Cartoon Contest.
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