Moral or Economic - China's Business

Realistically the question is not whether sweatshops are evil or what we can do to help the people suffering by working in them. The real thing that must be considered is whether or not we as consumers are willing to deal with increased prices as a result of the termination of sweatshop labor. The Chinese government is fully aware of what is occurring in these "factories" and is actually benefiting from their existence and the fact that they can offer the most goods at the cheapest prices. This is honestly a huge reason why China has been able to rapidly take its place alongside the West in terms of economic domination. Searching for a solution to the sweatshop problem within China itself would be a fool's errand.

When it comes down to it, one must find an alternative to poorly paid workers for the Chinese economy itself. A possible answer might be the production and implementation of machines capable of mass production on a large scale. This would permanently remove the need for exhausted, beleaguered, and poor workers in exchange for increased efficiency for a reasonable primary investment in the machine itself. The major con to this is that it would remove the employment of former sweatshop workers for what new occupation? One might argue a Jared Diamond style thesis stating that since the machines now take care of making cheap clothing former workers can now focus on secondary education. The real result of this replacement may be the development of even larger gaps between the upper and lower classes as a result of one increased profits due to an increase in efficiency and two the enlargement of unemployment in a nation dependent upon a lagging globalized economy. The answer to the sweatshop question is certainly not an easily found one.

Another answer might be to simply stabilize conditions by paying the workers reasonable wages and making it healthier for the laborers in general to be involved with the factory. An obvious answer but not thought out in the least. Humans tend to be naturally greedy, and there are very few people in positions of power in a business that are willing to cut their own salaries to increase the wages of unskilled(and therefore easily replaced) workers. This simply would not happen unless the change was forced by federal authority, which would not likely happen in this Asian nation.

Finally, the good ole American solution of unifying the workers under a single banner to protest unfair conditions in the form of a ground-shaking protest/boycott. This certainly worked well with the reform minded populace of early twentieth century of America in comparison of what would happen should such an act be even contemplated in China. Unlike the United States, China has a history of believing that if one does not work they do not deserve to eat. Whereas in America a brave outcry against such deplorable conditions would be recognized positively as a fight for liberty and equality, in China such an act would be considered sloth and insubordination. This really lies with differences in culture and history. Again this solution would not be effective.

Remember when considering doing business with China, always take a step back and determine what they would do to insure the greatest profit. Knowing is half the battle or, in this case, half the negotiation.

The problem with sweatshops.

So we've all researched well what we chose to do our presentation on in two weeks, US companies with manufacturing locations in places like China and the problems that entails.

China has laws regulating their industry which were put in place to prevent things like child labor, working below the minimum wage, and so on. All of it's on paper, but mostly this goes unenforced. US companies import these goods and sell them in places we visit every day, for instance, Wal-Mart. The retail giant's main toy supplier is Hasbro, a company most notorious for their use of sweatshops in China. Right now, Hasbro has atleast forty manufacturing plants in China at undisclosed locations. Which brings about the question, what is it these people are hiding?

Conditions in some of the worst sweatshops violate some of the most basic human rights. There are accounts of people working twelve hour shifts, seven days a week and do not get off work for months at a time. They're locked into the rooms and not allowed out for food breaks or restroom breaks. These people are paid not even half of China's legal minimum wage and are put into some of the most unsafe working conditions.

And about the products they're producing. They tend to be unsafe as well. Recalls of dog food, cat food, toothpaste, light bulbs, tires, toys, and so on have seen problems. These products poisoned people, animals, children, or resulted in accidents.

The mass production and cheap prices we demand here in The United States of America can be blamed for the exploitation of these people and the poisoning of our own in my honest opinion. They use cheap labor by poverty stricken villagers and cheap lead paint to finish off their products. This hurts everyone in the end, but doesn't seem to phase us as an overall society much.

So how do you guys feel? Opinions? Suggestions to the problem? Comments?