>for a manufacturing company that has to seriously compete on
>an international level, there's always gonna be other
>industrial countries that can undercut them (countries in SE
>asia, and china, for example) because of the pro-employer
>laws there... as opposed to the 35 hour week, which is
>pro-employee.

competition is good. especially international competition. my only problem is with international companies who are subsidized by their govt and use that as leverage against a private corporation. for example, DHL is heavily subsidized by the german govt and they compete directly with fedex/ups and of course our own govt postal service. its not easy for fedex/ups to compete and stay profitable but they somehow manage to every year with very little govt assistance. not to mentional DHL apparently loses money every year.
>
>but hey, if we can't reap the benefits of living in a
>post-industrial society, then what the hell are we all
>trying to achieve here?
>hehe

good question. at some point we have to wonder what all our hard work has accomplished besides living longer healthier and for the most part richer lives. you would think someday all our hard work would pay off and we can chill out on a beach with drinks while our robots do all the work. of course, some people love ot work and get a lot out of running a business and producing goods and offering services.