Virtual Imperialism: Easing the White Man’s Burden
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James Joyner | Thursday, November 29, 2007 |
Foreign Policy’s Prerna Mankad brings us up to speed on the latest merging of the Internet and cheap foreign labor: the rise of “virtual personal assistants” (VPAs) from India who perform various mundane tasks for a nominal-to-Americans price. This, apparently, has created an ethical dilemma for some:
Is employing a VPA in India to respond to your every whim a neo-imperial, exploitative phenomenon? (Jacobs did experience other pangs of guilt as he found himself making stranger demands simply because he could.) Or is it a genuine win-win transaction, where clients in the West make the most of their purchasing power while entrepreneurs in the East expand their markets?
The answer, quite obviously, is Yes.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Was a web-cam involved in any of his "stranger demands"?
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