At 11:08 PM 2/25/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Excuse me, but how does our refusal to buy from these countries help the
>workers there obtain the benefits you spoke of? If they don't have a job,
>they sure as hell can't have safety standards, health coverage, workers comp,
>etc. And the six year old working 16 hours a day - does he and his family go
>hungry if he doesn't work?
>
SNIP
>
>My only objection to buying overseas, other than quality, would be the
>concern
>that jobs are being lost here. If they are not being lost here, then it seems
>to
>me buying from these countries would benefit the world as a whole.
>
>Yes Geoff, thinking about six year old working 16 hour days makes me blow my
>stack too,
>but I fail to see how killing the economy in these countries by refusing to
>buy from
>them can help the working people there.
>
>I don't have the answers, but I don't think a boycott is appropriate. Surely,
>there
>must be a better way.
>
No offense Dan but I think you missed the big picture here. The
aforementioned six year old is a symptom of a backwards and/or corrupt
system. Working conditions in North America and Europe were not much better
at the turn of the century but we had somethings that are missing from many
developing nations. I refer to the fourth estate, effective and (more or
less) independant news media with a wide readership, a (somewhat)
responsible government and an already developed national economy.
When organized labour first raised its uppity head it was promptly smashed
back into place, it tried again with the same result, and again and again
till finally the papers and the public started to get uncomfortable with the
blood in the streets and things started to improve. The same is not likely
to happen in many developing nations. For the most part they are exporters
of consumer goods; manufacturing articles that workers have no hope of being
able to afford. If they resist or protest against their working conditions
they are pushed aside. Since there is no social infrastructure they have no
recourse, they work or starve. In many instances the local governments have
a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. It is these governments
that will respond to a consumer boycott of their products. All of us who
work in the "western-democracies" are covered by some kind of labour
standards, some better than others but all protecting the rights and health
of workers. These are state, provincial, or national laws or codes. Only
by pressuring governments through diplomatic and economic pressure can these
regimes be brought into the twentieth century and forced to introduce (and
enforce!) reasonable labour standards.
Witness the ongoing program to have products from developing nations
labelled and certified that they're produced without child labour. It's
pressure from the consumers that is forcing this change.
I prefer to buy local and think global, I vote with my wallet. Boycotts
work, but only if they're widely supported.
Soap Box mode OFF.........
|