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SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

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Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#101

Post by xorcist »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #79
johnchristopher wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There seems to exist a tendency to move sweatshops to countries with less effective work(er) protection laws rather than automating jobs (eg: from China to Vietnam and so on).

That's because people are still cheaper than robots. This won't last forever if current trends continue.

But it will, as long as you can lock up children and force them to work off some debt.

Free labour is one of the things which led to the fall of the Roman empire. Nobody needs technology when you have slaves. And there are a lot of slaves in the world, just read the latest UN report on it.

Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#104

Post by collyw »

arethuza wrote: post #90
collyw wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I suspect your inclusion of "right wing" probably derailed your comment - particularly as self-proclaimed "left wing" people can be just as arrogant and out of touch as their "right wing" counterparts.

"But they just need to work harder."

You don't often hear that from left wing people.

You do hear it a lot from right wing UK politicians.

Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#105

Post by mixedbit »

foobar2020 wrote: post #98

I really don't understand this problem. Why does everybody think people in Asia are forced to do this kind of work? These people would be incredibly poor if not for western companies. Actually most of them would die being children as a result of their poverty: malnutrition, accidents, preventable diseases such as polio or measles. Go now and check what was China's annual GDP per capita in Mao Zedong times. Just see i…

These people are exploited by being paid a minimal wage, because they have no other way to survive, but to take sweatshop jobs. The Grapes of Wrath illustrates this mechanism well.

Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#106

Post by ersii »

auganov wrote: post #81

Am I a bad person for thinking it was going to be a post about a techie fed up with working at a software consultancy?

Well, I certainly don't think you're a bad person for that - considering this forum is generally focused towards the technical angle of things.

For some reason, I thought I was clicking through to another Five Eyes/NSA, GCHQ, CSE programme. I guess it's since it was a single word in all capital letters and aftenposten.no previously reported on the "Oslo mobile/GSM surveillance" thing.

Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#107

Post by danielweber »

foobar2020 wrote: post #98

I really don't understand this problem. Why does everybody think people in Asia are forced to do this kind of work? These people would be incredibly poor if not for western companies. Actually most of them would die being children as a result of their poverty: malnutrition, accidents, preventable diseases such as polio or measles. Go now and check what was China's annual GDP per capita in Mao Zedong times. Just see i…

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/19...

Bad jobs at bad wages beat no jobs at no wages.

This doesn't mean the western world shouldn't push back at all. There are things very cheap for the employer that can provide a lot of safety benefits to the worker. But imposing Western-style labor standards and wages today would put these places out of business, harming the laborers.

Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#108

Post by gwys »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #99
gwys wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There actually was this kind of system in Sweden in the 80s. Of course it was very unpopular with the right and was abolished as soon as they got into power. Since then, like in most of the western world, the productivity gains has to a large extent favored owners rather than employees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_funds

It's interesting that the link describes the critics argument as increasing the power of labo[u]r over the company. Why is it a bad thing for the people who are actually doing the work of the company to have control over the company? Why should labo[u]r be controlled by a third party force (neither labor nor the customers).

People tend to say it's about control, but companies give up control all the time. I think it's mostly because they don't have to. I'm not sure how good a plan it is, but I do think it was visionary. I think the Nordic countries a losing much of their raison d'être by not taking care of their middle/working class.

Re: SWEATSHOP – I can´t take any more

#109

Post by monk_e_boy »

colmvp wrote: post #67
perdunov wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is probably the normal animal/human reaction: to react only when something is hurting you right now. If you take the pain away, the motivation vapors. This is one of the design flaws of the human mind inherited from animals that causes procrastination and lack of willpower.

> to react only when something is hurting you right now. If you take the pain away, the motivation vapors. I'm reminded of the Simpsons episode where Homer believes he's going to die after eating the poisonous part of fugu. He changes his habits to embrace the remaining part of his life. After it's miraculously revealed that he'll survive, he professes to continue with the ideal of seizing life. This was an instructi…

From a personal perspective, I find being athiest really makes me prioritise things. This is it. Today is today. I washed my hands and murdered lots of little bugs n stuff. That may be me one day. See a near car crash, think about what to do to make today significant.

Not sure what point I was trying to make really. Some days being a TV drone is OK, some days I'm tired. I don't want to spend every day tired, so I chill out today to make tomorow more epic.

Hm.

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