Earlier quoted context omitted.
such as?
Any person jailed just for selling drugs.
I don't have a horse in this race, but have you ever been around drug dealers?
Having a Servant Is Not a Right
141–150 of 235 posts
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#142I think it was wrong to strip-search and do cavity searches on the consular officer (in this case, a woman) "accused" of underpaying a maid. However,I'm not going to focus on that and I'm not going to quibble with some of the exaggerations in this column. Overall, I agree that Ms Khobragade must be prosecuted and the evidence clearly suggests that she is guilty. However, I find it astonishing that so many people (mos…
Well he may well have been conducting official business when the crash occurred, meaning it would be quite justified to claim diplomatic immunity. Underpaying a worker in a domestic situation has nothing to do with official consular business. The US is taking a very strong stand that it will not tolerate abuse and exploitation in its borders, even under the guise or protection of diplomatic activity.
right - then maybe the US should take a look at California where Mexican agricultural workers are severely underpaid. That's just one example. But then again - someone has to harvest those avocadoes right?
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#143I think it was wrong to strip-search and do cavity searches on the consular officer (in this case, a woman) "accused" of underpaying a maid. However,I'm not going to focus on that and I'm not going to quibble with some of the exaggerations in this column. Overall, I agree that Ms Khobragade must be prosecuted and the evidence clearly suggests that she is guilty. However, I find it astonishing that so many people (mos…
It's not straightforward hypocrisy when the legal system or jail system in the other country is substandard to the US's. That may be unlikely nowadays but it's something to consider.
Maybe we should have a system in place to prosecute "immune" diplomats ourselves after they flee.
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't exploitation based on the idea that you're manipulating some part of the system to pay someone less than they're worth? If maids are typically worth $Y and you pay the maid $Y, that seems fair to me.
Yes - this is my point too - from an elitist western perspective it maybe exploitation - but the servants are not indentured slaves who dont have an option to go find better paying work! They are earning what the market is ready to give them and all of Indias middle class didn't get together one day and decide to manipulate that rate!
> all of Indias middle class didn't get together one day and decide to manipulate that rate!
What do you think the caste system is?
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not straightforward hypocrisy when the legal system or jail system in the other country is substandard to the US's. That may be unlikely nowadays but it's something to consider.
Maybe we should have a system in place to prosecute "immune" diplomats ourselves after they flee.
There would be no feasible way to implement such a system, even if it were desirable to do so.
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe we should have a system in place to prosecute "immune" diplomats ourselves after they flee.
There would be no feasible way to implement such a system, even if it were desirable to do so.
It's feasible. The US prosecutes Americans who molest children in Thailand.
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
If the laws pass that require servants to be paid more, some servants will be lucky enough to make more money as a result, others will starve to death because they will go from making $64/month to nothing at all. In a way, this sort of proves that not having a servant IS an option in India. If laws pass that push people not to hire help they can't afford, they will stop hiring. I know that's not the point you're tryi…
yes it is very much a cultural thing (see my longer comment) & often just makes economic sense. The argument that they are underpaid is relatively flawed. Servants in cities make much more than they would make if they stayed in their towns or villages an did nothing / worked on someone elses farm. If there is a minimum wage in all sectors with unorganized labour (construction, farming etc) - then yes - these people w…
If they're making 10x as much as a farm worker, including benefits, then doesn't that mean they're already making a living wage? A minimum wage probably wouldn't affect them significantly in that case.
But is the article wrong then? Why would someone with 10x the income of a farm worker villager live in a shanty town without water?
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#148According to the story, servants only earn about $64 to $161 per month, which is too little. Author also opines that if someone cannot afford to pay more for domestic help then they shouldn't have domestic help. That's easy to say. That's like saying it is better to starve than work for $64 to $161 per month. If that's the most the employer can afford to pay you, why wouldn't you take it, as opposed to starving? Indi…
I think what you may not be considering here is that there's a broader point being made about what constitutes a "living wage." Of course it's better to get some money rather than nothing. But if the money is below the minimum wage and/or below a living wage, it forces the "servant" to either live close to poverty or work multiple jobs. Also, what's being touched on is a notion of entitlement. For instance, I hire so…
If I offer Joe a job at $2.00 an hour, which is less than the minimum wage, and Joe wants to accept the job, then I have forced Joe to live close to poverty or to work multiple jobs?
The offer is voluntary. Joe can either accept it or refuse it.
Why doesn't Joe get to say whether he's willing to accept the job or not? I'd say that the government is the entity introducing the use of force into what was otherwise a voluntary situation.
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
> India doesn't have much income inequality This[1] page shows India's Gini coefficient at 36.8 in 2004. India suffers from very high income inequality [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...
33 by the World Bank, 36.8 by the CIA. Using the CIA's numbers rather than the world Bank, India is comparable to New Zealand or Japan. It's still well below the US (45) or the world as a whole (39). India's problem is poverty, not inequality. Much as first world hipsters try to conflate the two, they are not the same thing.
>India's problem is poverty, not inequality.
I would agree, but life in a city like Kolkata is very different from a place like tribal Odisha. Sheer numbers (as opposed to percentages) are more important when you get in the hundreds of millions.
Re: Having a Servant Is Not a Right
#150I think it was wrong to strip-search and do cavity searches on the consular officer (in this case, a woman) "accused" of underpaying a maid. However,I'm not going to focus on that and I'm not going to quibble with some of the exaggerations in this column. Overall, I agree that Ms Khobragade must be prosecuted and the evidence clearly suggests that she is guilty. However, I find it astonishing that so many people (mos…
Well he may well have been conducting official business when the crash occurred, meaning it would be quite justified to claim diplomatic immunity. Underpaying a worker in a domestic situation has nothing to do with official consular business. The US is taking a very strong stand that it will not tolerate abuse and exploitation in its borders, even under the guise or protection of diplomatic activity.
I suspect he had no official business crossing the line in the road. Using your logic, if you are tasked with delivering official documents from point A to point B, is it covered under diplomatic immunity to stop somewhere between A and B and murder someone?