h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"I've not seen any evidence that before we in the west started getting our clothes made by poor people overseas that those people starved to death."

If they hadn't been, that would be pretty extraordinary. Large numbers of people dying of famine or plague every few decades is the norm.

Yes, but aren't those people still dying? The people who make our clothes don't live in the Eithiopian desert. They live in countries that can support them enough (food, shelter) to be able to work. A slave need to be fed after all.

Most clothing and shoes in NZ is made in China or other parts of Asia/Malaysia.


We are talking in gross generalities here. Maybe we should get more specific.

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Most? All basic clothing bought here in Spain from the big chain stores is made somewhere in Asia.

Big name designers like Yves St.Laurent have all there exquisite designer stuff made in Morocco.

Can you spell 'sweatshops'?

Sure, those people in Morocco, Senegal and other places need the money, the income from clothing manufacturers ...

Frankly, I'd rather pay 10 euros more for a sweater knowing it came from a place where people were being paid a decent wage. Not because I'm rich and can actually afford the extra 10 euros, just because it would seem more right and fair in terms of how it got to be where I was able to purchase it.

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c**p!!!

sweatshoops?

az

Extreme basketball?

We should also look at why these children are working in those factories in the first place. If you stopped buying clothes from some company and they closed down their Indian sweatshop, that probably doesn´t mean the children now have the freedom to go back to their parents and play all day in the streets. It might just mean they lost their sole source of income, and now have to resort to prostitution to get food and shelter. Unless there is a proper alternative, sweatshops might be the better evil.

One thing is certain - as long as people in the West buy cheap imported clothing, the economies of poor countries will be managed to ensure there is a steady supply of slave labour. The reason those factories exist is because the powerful countries in the world, the ones that control the global economy, eg the US, *need* slave labour in order for their own economies to function.

Like I said the west treats its own poor somewhat better in that we would never expect poor workers here to work under such conditions (although there are plenty of companies that would do this if they could get away with it, and in the US, Australia and other western countries such factories are often worked illegally or borderline legally). But we are ok with 'other' people having to do our shit work for us.

>>Unless there is a proper alternative, sweatshops might be the better evil.<<

Buy fairtrade goods, or buy locally produced goods. Both those things require the global economy to support fair work conditions.

I meant a proper alternative for the children. Just shutting down the factory wouldn't be good if the children then was left on their own.

Nobody is talking about shutting down a factory.

Well, if you stopped buying clothes from a certain brand because they used child labour, they might choose to shut down their factories. And the kids might then be left with no alternatives.
The best idea might be to not boycott such companies, but instead support The Green Bank and other such initiatives with micro-loans to people in third world countries.

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Yeah, but if you kept the factory open using adult labour then there's no need to shut it down, is there? The brands will take note and change their business practices as soon as enough pressure is put on them.

The fact is that the 3rd world will, for the foreseeable future, make goods like textiles at a lower cost than in the west. Adults in well-ventilated, clean, safe factories included, because the land is cheaper (generally) as well as the labour.

By far the best idea is to treat people with respect no matter where they are in the world. I had a class in business ethics yesterday (and no, it didn't last five minutes), and a case study we used was an example in India. A 10 year-old girl had been working in a textile factory for 3 years (since she was 7) for 70 hours a week to pay off and £111 loan that the factory owner gave to her parents. The loan still wasn't paid off.

Third world labour costs make up a fraction of the prices we pay for goods in the West. Treating them like fellow human beings really wouldn't break the bank.