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

like... who like... actually like... cares like... where and like... how the clothes they like... buy and like... wear once and like throw away are made? (like)
Who like cares that about the like child workers and the like wage slaves?

Who?

I think it's a minute minority of what are otherwise a mindless mass of the willfully ignorant and selfish.

whether milan or manila, i pity them all. but hey, a man's gotta wear clothes.

I admit I don't carefully check where all the clothes I buy have been made, but I do avoid places like tesco and asda where the clothes are so cheap I don't see how they could have been made by paying anyone a decent wage.

I've got a friend who is a dressmaker and even charging for materials only she couldn't make things that cheap. I realise in other countries materials may be cheaper, but that's likely to be because a fair wage hasn't been paid to anyone involved in that either!

It's a fair assumption to make, although you have to counter it somewhat with what is a fair wage in our economy could and is often extremely different to what would buy the same or similar lifestyle in other economies. And is nowhere near enough to survive in others!

What I object to is that a lot of expensive clothes are probably made in the same places as make supermarket clothes...

Having said that, I did just buy a pair of gorgeous shorts (mens baggy skateboard style) for £45... So I dont buy ethically. I'm sorry but there's few enough clothes I actually like, if I narrowed it down any more I'd just wrap a towel around me and go everywhere in that, and that's just not practical..

It sounds callous, but I would temper the 'ethical clothing' debate by pointing out that companies are providing all these kids* with a (barely) living wage that they might not otherwise get.

* The oft quoted extreme, which I'm not sure is that often true anyhow.

That is always the big problem - does boycotting companies that don't pay a living wage help or hinder the workers?

Yeah I read in a magazine a while ago about how campaigning had managed to get a sweat shop closed down, and how wonderful that was. And I thought, well these people have gone from having to work all hours of the day just to feed their family to...not being able to feed their family. How is that better?

Deb

I think we should go into competition with these buggers. What do I mean? Chavs. Get the chavs *making* the sports clothes, not wearing them. If you can't read by the time you're 10, you're making trackies, final.

If you close down sweatshops without giving an alternative, you´re just going to be making things worse. As mentioned it at least gives them an income. If child workers aren´t slaving away in factories, they´ll probably have to turn to child prostitution instead just to get fed.

Well, they could always vote for a society that doesn't rely on child labour.

But wait, for that you'd need democracy. Bloody left-wingers!

RF

no child labour where you live? in oz, most kids have some form of employment by about 15. in my lifetime trade apprentices started at 16, and tho this is rare today, sometimes still occurs.

'child labour' is really weasel words since i fail to see anything unreasonable about teenagers doing at least SOME paid work whether they live in london or lahore.

couple of points. firstly, it is all very well for millionaire celebrity X to decry purchases of third world made goods. the fact is that if we in the west opted not to buy this stuff, our own streets would be filled with kids with no shoes and tattered shirts. sometimes principals have a very high price tag.

secondly, wages aren't often the primary problem. wealth is relative and saying 50 dollars a day to a european conjurs up something quite different to a filipino. the issue really is working conditions. and on that score i can't see anything incompatible between wto rules and punitive tarrifs against countries that do not conform to minimal standards of worker care.

but putting this stuff back on the consumer? won't work, costs too much and basically duck shoves the issue.

In my experience, teenagers having part-time jobs is a bit of a myth. For a start, there are nowhere near enough jobs of this type to occupy all of them.

i am in oz. you can't get people to fill the jobs needed. those fast food outlets and such always have hiring signs.

anyway, the point doesn't fail because some teenagers won't work. entire industries in the developed nations rely on youth employment.