I got hired at a Bangladesh sweatshop. Meet my 9-year-old boss [video]

Post by marquis » Sun, Oct 13, 2013, 2:33 AM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #72

anigbrowl wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pretty weak straw man argument. Back in the real world, such activists usually would-be trade partners to provide childhood education and regulate working conditions as a condition of market access. As large, wealthy markets, territories like the US and EU have a great deal of leverage in such matters.

On the surface I agree completely. Right down to the level of when I'm standing in the WalMart thinking about whether to buy that fair-trade coffee or not. In practice, that solution doesn't work so well. Usually the goods wind up simply taking a longer boat ride through a country with looser standards before winding up in the US/EU. The fundamental problem is Bangladeshi. It requires a Bangladeshi solution. High-min…

Post by chad_oliver » Sun, Oct 13, 2013, 3:06 AM UTC

allochthon wrote: post #132

chad_oliver wrote: post #110

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Capitalism is an ethically bankrupt system which nevertheless manages to produce very good outcomes over the long term. It does this by redirecting human greed, jealousy, ambition, etc towards endeavors which benefit other people. To be clear: there are plenty of problems, and plenty of people being abused. But compare it with feudal economics, where a rent-seeking class had a monopoly on everything and had absolutel…

> But compare it with feudal economics, where a rent-seeking class had a monopoly on everything and had absolutely no incentive to improve the economic conditions of their subjects. This sounds a little like the US today. In order for capitalism to deliver what promise it holds, it must be saved from the capitalists. That means intelligent regulation (as opposed to mere red tape).

Post by Dogamondo » Sun, Oct 13, 2013, 3:22 AM UTC

Post by allochthon » Sun, Oct 13, 2013, 3:45 AM UTC

Dogamondo wrote: post #135

Are these monthly salaries quite typical across the board for the majority of people in Bangladesh? I employ a JS developer in Dhaka as a contractor who's hourly rate is $22.00 USD. I would have crossed his palm with about $4000 in the past month alone. Yet he still tells me he's only on the slightly higher side of 'average' when it comes to lifestyle/income over there. Earning 90% of a sweat shop workers monthly sal…

Post by solistice » Sun, Oct 13, 2013, 4:03 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #117

Retric wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#1 Quitting does not mean you never look for another job or quit on the first day etc. It means when you perceive working for said factory is not worth it you do something else. #2 Having a large labor supply suggests the job is competitive. However, even if that's the case having people constantly quit increases training costs. The point of all of this is industrialization tends to follow a path where people move fr…

You are begging the question. The reason factory workers in poor rural countries put up with no windows, ventilation, or air conditioning is that the alternative is subsistence farming. Suggesting that they quit in protest is almost cruel. China has absolutely not moved past the first rung of this ladder. The majority of the Chinese population lives in abject rural poverty.