Mamlukes, and Early Experiment In Outscourcing.

Outsourcing is another one of those magic bullets that are supposed to save us. Its taking jobs away? Never mind...Tim Ferriss assures us that we can just work four hours a week while we travel around the world, save the environment, get involves in pseudo spirituality and a host of other shallow "experiences". Everything can be outsourced - even sending flowers to your wife and (I am not making this up) getting your kids to go to bed... ...with all the free time Ferriss has, did he ever pick up a book and read up on the Mamlukes? They were an early experiment in outsourcing. You see the Sultans and Pashas of Egypt got bored with the drudgery of running their empires -it detracted from the Harem, poetry and other delights...so they conscripted Mamlukes to do the hard business of running the empire. One day, the Mamlukes figured it out: If we're running things in everything but name only, why not eliminate the middle man. And they did.

How long will it be before those hard working Indians figure out the same thing?