Look again, Tom. It is the bottom.

Thomas Friedman had seemed nearly reasonable in a few of his more recent columns. In a sense, it's a relief to see nonsense like this:

The dirty little secret is that India is taking work from Europe or America not simply because of low wages. It is also because Indians are ready to work harder and can do anything from answering your phone to designing your next airplane or car. They are not racing us to the bottom. They are racing us to the top.

Friedman's definition of "racing to the top"?

The Indian state of West Bengal has the oldest elected Communist government left in the world today. Some global technology firms recently were looking at outsourcing there, but told the Communists they could not do so because of the possibility of worker strikes that might disrupt the business processes of the companies they work for. No problem. The Communist government declared information technology work an "essential service," making it illegal for those workers to strike. Have a nice day.

Huh. So some corporations are a fan not only of low wages, but also of blatant anti-union government action. And these corporations will relocate to areas which have both. Who knew?
Of course, the example given involves a government decree rather than worker choice. And indeed the workers themselves presumably don't agree (otherwise why would the law be necessary?). But according to Friedman, union-bashing is a miracle of individual achievement leading to "the top" for those workers who now have no bargaining power. And Europe should be trying to emulate this pattern for the good of its workers.
A left-wing paper indeed.

EDIT: If only.