So I am reading through the bbc website (I try to read at least 3-5 different newspapers a day) to catch a different perspective on news, and I came across this article. and this article.
quote: "Another picked up an axe. First he chopped my left hand, then my right. Then he chopped my nose, my ears and my mouth with a knife."
Reading about the LRA made me sick and grateful to live in America. Those atrocities in that part of Africa and how they recruit kids is just wrong.
I was reading the paper again and I come across good news. The director of "Spartacus Returns" sounds really cool. How he is addressing child labor, supporting those who have been affected by it, and his general personality made me grateful there is talent addressing abuse a children. I know it is unrelated to what is going on in Africa ( a civil war of sorts), but it warmed my heart.
As I was reading the article towards the end I read about a scene in Spartacus Returns that places blame of child labor on America:
quote: He leads a gang of child slaves building Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, whipped by a giant whose face is coloured like the Stars and Stripes. The anti-US sentiment is rammed home when an evil genie rounds up children, forcing the world's best-known soft drink down their throats. The America-bashing sits very uneasily with the broader theme of freedom from slavery. But Mr Devaraj insists that child labour is kept alive precisely by US-spearheaded globalisation, which he sees as a successor to Roman imperialism. "It's as a result of globalisation that children are coming from the villages to the cities, enlarging the mass of working children in this country," he says.
Altho child labor played a significant role in the industrial revolution, I disagree with John Devaraj that America is driving child labor in the world. We have passed the industrial revolution.
Then I think, "well, he is enmeshed in the topic; he seems like a cool guy; and there is a lot about oversea sweat shops I do not understand or know about, maybe America is contributing to child labor. But do you really think we are the driving force behind child labor?
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No, we haven't passed the Industrial Revolution. Look at Walmart. Most of their products are made overseas by workers in horrible conditions for low pay. A lot of the toys we buy for children in thsi country are made by other children in third world countries. And a great deal of designer clothes and sneakers... made by slave labour. I'm not even sure if persian rugs are still made by children in places like India. It still happens... Somehow it has to stop. Not only are these people used like slaves but it also effects Americans as more and more jobs go overseas where there are less regulations.
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what can we do about it? Should companies have to make public where they get products, at what price they bought the products for, what wage teh workers make, and make public overseas working conditions? How do you fight oversea abuses by American corperations?
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We could have a provision that (if we suspect abuse) we will not buy products from any company that supports child labor. If we suspect a company uses child labor, we could have an American paid "Labor Supervisor" (paid for by America) that is on site at all times to report abuse. If the overseas company does not comply with a minimum standard, then we legally have to sever our relationship.
Kinda of a child labor version of BYU off campus housing.
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Boycott them. Especially Walmart. Do not shop there. Not only does Walmart use underpaid third world workers but it also has no benefits for their American workers. They don't get paid a living wage nor are they allowed to unionize. Walmart is a billion dollar company. Yet they can't even provide their workers with basic benefits. The cheap prices are not worth this. It's much better to buy from church and neigbourhood thrift stores than to support horrible companies like Walmart. If you find out about any other company that uses child labour write them a letter and tell them you won't buy their products. Which reminds me. I need to do more research.
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If anybody comes across any good research, will you post it here. I would like to understand this issue better. Thank you. I will also post anything I find that is pertinent.
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My suggestion is that the US tax companies that use foreign labor at a much higher than those who use domestic labor. I see it as the way to achieve a good goal (less foreign slave labor and fewer Americans losing jobs to overseas) while speaking in the language of corporate America (money).
I hope that people will make the labor practices of American companies more well known. I stopped shopping at Walmart because of their treatment of their employees a year or two ago (and usually whenever someone mentions Walmart I mention that I don't shop there any why). I suspect that these kinds of things are common (shipping jobs overseas to make more money, slave labour, denying workers benefits, etc.) but I don't know enough to know who exactly uses them.
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quote: Not only are these people used like slaves but it also effects Americans as more and more jobs go overseas where there are less regulations.
Used like slaves? Maybe, but the same argument could be made for anybody who needs to work to survive. Admittedly, their conditions are often awful, but what does boycotting companies that use these people really accomplish? These people need money and jobs. Even though their wages are extremely low, they can survive on them. These people are not literally in chains working for companies. (well, I wouldn't be suprised if there was one or two companies secretly doing something similar. But by and large...) Generally they have the option to leave, but if they did they would probably be worse off. The benefits of their jobs outweight the costs. Boycotting just takes more jobs away from these needy people. Even if only working for 2 cents an hour, that's 2 cents they wouldn't have had otherwise.
quote: My suggestion is that the US tax companies that use foreign labor at a much higher than those who use domestic labor. I see it as the way to achieve a good goal (less foreign slave labor and fewer Americans losing jobs to overseas) while speaking in the language of corporate America (money).
I don't think that this would accomplish the goals that you want. Just like I shop around for which store has the cheapest and highest quality product, companies look for a government that is going to be economically friendly to them. If the US starts being as unfriendly as you suggest, you're going to see a lot less US based companies. This would increase foreign slave labor and send even more jobs overseas. On the upside, products would be even cheaper.
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