SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

Post by mcv » Tue, Feb 03, 2015, 1:42 PM UTC

lukasm wrote: post #32

colmvp wrote: post #12

So, I remember seeing this on Reddit a few weeks back. Some commenters mentioned that sweatshops are a necessary evil for developing nations. It's better to have a shitty job than to have the alternative of being jobless and resorting to theft/prostitution for sustenance. How true is such an argument?

Sadly, it is true. If you increase min wage in one country, the business will move to another. You would need to increase it everywhere. Assuming that's possible you would still need to deal with corruption. What makes things worse (at least short term) it's automation. In 10 years robots will do this kind of job. Historically, all nations developed with this brutal process. Many without minimum wage.

Post by collyw » Tue, Feb 03, 2015, 1:44 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #36

chodk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blod, Sved og T-shirts http://www.dr.dk/Undervisning/Gymnasium/Samfund/Oekonomi/Glo... I think it is besides the point that they were pampered upper middle class kids. The things they saw were horrible. In the danish edition, they went to India where there was a whole town build up around a mountain of trash. The folks there would drink black water from the mountain.

I think a dose of reality is what most middle class kids need. Otherwise many of them grow into arrogant right wing adults with no real clue about how much of the world works.

Post by TeMPOraL » Tue, Feb 03, 2015, 1:46 PM UTC

vetler wrote: post #52

chippy wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the link, I was wrong on the legal point, but it's not all bullshit. From that thread: "They don't get punished for not maximizing shareholder value. But it is true that maximizing value needs to be their goal and they may not be negligent in the pursuit of that goal." It also confirms that a corporation must in general make an effort to maximise profits, if that is what the shareholders want. So, we shoul…

It doesn't have to be the shareholders responsibility to tell directors that, the directors can even just assume that - as they should. Big companies don't all set out to ruin the world just to make money, and I'm not saying that is your opinion, but I get the feeling that this is sometimes implied when discussing how to maximize profits. Companies even donate money to charity, without any concern for short term prof…

Post by Iv » Tue, Feb 03, 2015, 1:49 PM UTC

mcv wrote: post #77

bruna597 wrote: post #44

Something that bothers me is the fact that even though they have cried on the show and said that they were going to do something to help, if you search for them on the internet, its clear that they aren't doing anything about it! Even the girl who has a fashion blog, she is still writing about the trademarks that use this kind of abusive job to make their clothes...

Honestly, I don't think we should leave it to the occasional individual to do something about it. If we want to stop this, we should ban the import of products that do not meet our own labour standards. We have reasonable work weeks and healthy working conditions because we fought against that exploitation. But instead of stopping it, we ended up merely exporting it; we don't make our stuff here anymore, but it's mad…

Post by arethuza » Tue, Feb 03, 2015, 1:52 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #36

chodk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blod, Sved og T-shirts http://www.dr.dk/Undervisning/Gymnasium/Samfund/Oekonomi/Glo... I think it is besides the point that they were pampered upper middle class kids. The things they saw were horrible. In the danish edition, they went to India where there was a whole town build up around a mountain of trash. The folks there would drink black water from the mountain.

I think a dose of reality is what most middle class kids need. Otherwise many of them grow into arrogant right wing adults with no real clue about how much of the world works.