tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11985920.post4734693640537447179..comments2023-10-20T13:50:51.794+04:00Comments on Bss & Brn in Abu Dhabi : ExploitationBrnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242601851481279077noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11985920.post-74324551985461188752008-02-22T15:36:00.000+04:002008-02-22T15:36:00.000+04:00Thanks hemlock. Marcus, I think that you are righ...Thanks hemlock. <BR/><BR/>Marcus, I think that you are right about the other issue that no one wants to be honest about is that many of the complaints about trade with "sweatshop" nations is that it hurts some workers in the West, so it allows some to combine moral preening and self-interest at the same time - a pretty nifty twofer.Brnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242601851481279077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11985920.post-35886438037666669982008-02-22T08:32:00.000+04:002008-02-22T08:32:00.000+04:00A couple of things are going on.It is sorta about ...A couple of things are going on.<BR/><BR/>It is sorta about "feel good" but this is a situation where people get to eat their cake and to have it too.<BR/><BR/>I recall seeing an ad in a Manila newspaper looking for a skilled machinist. The advertised pay amounted to $10.00/day when I know a skilled machinist in the states earns much more than that in an hour.<BR/><BR/>I think it is more about jobs. Shutting down those shops in Vietnam made it a little more likely people here in the States can hold onto their job for a little while longer. However, people can preen about how "good" they are shutting down shops where people only earn $13.00/day, after all that can hardly buy them a cappuccino in a trendy coffee shop.Marcus Aureliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12731740191789466205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11985920.post-65874908751280768312008-02-21T13:18:00.000+04:002008-02-21T13:18:00.000+04:00Brn, i loved your post, not because it is in defen...Brn, i loved your post, not because it is in defence of dubai, but because it looks deeper at why the blue collared worker chooses to be here. it's about the opportunities they have, or the ones they dont have. <BR/>modern-day slavery is a global phenomenon. child prostitution in romania, mine workers in china, brick-kiln workers in asia... <BR/>Footballs (as in soccer balls) were coming out of Sialkot, a city in pakistan, and the whole child labour issue was raised and FIFA threatened to stop buying them unless the children were taken off the production. <BR/>thousands of families suffered and dived below sustainance level simply because they had no alternate sources of income. <BR/>right or wrong, if the government cannot look after the people, the people have to look after themselves... and for that they make their own choices. <BR/>and that's why a foreigner is just that - an outsider - he will never understand the inside story.hemlockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02886283830369668137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11985920.post-5376512473539740252008-02-21T11:54:00.000+04:002008-02-21T11:54:00.000+04:00The child labor issue is a perfect example. No on...The child labor issue is a perfect example. No one wants their children to be working in a factory, but if the alternative is for these children to be forced into prostitution, which is what happened when sweatshops were closed in Vietnam, how is anyone's life improved?<BR/><BR/>If we really wanted to improve things, focus on the dishonesty. That is something that we can actually fix, and it would have a much bigger improvement in these lives.Brnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242601851481279077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11985920.post-16953493416121584242008-02-21T11:06:00.000+04:002008-02-21T11:06:00.000+04:00Good points. Another example is the child labour i...Good points. Another example is the child labour issue. It would obviously be far better for the kids to be in school than working. Well-meaning but naive westerners go to close the sweatshops and that often takes away the child's family's only source of income. A rock and a hard place.<BR/><BR/>These things really are very complex. We're dealing wih a guest worker society, with fraudulent 'employment agencies', with bad employers, with people from poverty-stricken backgrounds...<BR/><BR/>Have a look at my post on <A HREF="http://dubaithoughts.blogspot.com/2008/01/food-for-thought.html" REL="nofollow">'are they better off here?'.</A><BR/><BR/>There are discussions going on between labour importing and exporting countries, laws being passed, more inspectors being employed etc etc. Of course it should have happened years ago, but at least now it's going in the right direction.Seabeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06939892206726271433noreply@blogger.com