Capitalist Globalization and the "middle-class" (tags)
Since the 1970s, the social consequences of the current period of capitalism (commonly referred to as globalization) have primarily affected the working class, especially those in manufacturing jobs. Despite the consequential deterioration of large cities and countless smaller towns — not to mention the pauperization of large segments of the population — the effects were dismissed by politicians and the mainstream media as necessary evils. The victims of this process were told to pick themselves up by their boot-straps, go back to school, and learn to integrate into the new, technology-driven global economy. How things have changed! Experience has exposed all the promises of globalization to be lies, and now those who think of themselves as "middle-class" are finding themselves on the chopping block. These skilled workers — engineers, Information Technology workers, accountants, legal and medical personnel, etc. — are confronted by the combined forces of a shrinking labor market, outsourcing, and the corporate-led importation of foreign workers through the H-1B visa program.