Finally, someone with some perspective on the world. Us Americans, we mean well. But too often we’re stuck in our own little worlds. I have always wondered, are sweatshops really that bad? Take a look at this article: Op-Ed Columnist — Where Sweatshops Are a Dream — NYTimes.com
Everything is relative in this world. One person might love to work a 9 to 5 job in a cubicle, another might be unable to function in such an environment. One person may find the pressure of meeting a sales quota to be too stressful, another may thrive under such demands.
When we find out that these sweatshop workers make less than a dollar a day, we gasp in abhorrence. We find out that they slave away for 14 hours a day, having little to no time for breaks. But do we ever ask ourselves what the workers think? How do they feel about working in those conditions? How much does one American dollar do for them?
I don’t support sweatshop labor in the sense that workers may be being exploited. But honestly, if they appreciate the work and are not reluctant to work in a sweatshop, who are we to take that away from them?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Economically (at least, at its basic principles), sweatshops are extremely efficient and do good things. Of course, this comes with the cost of “humanity” and whatnot.
My point is that it is not at the cost of humanity. To some of these people, a job in a factory is safer and more pleasant than digging through piles of waste and garbage. In an absolute sense it may seem appalling to work in those conditions. But one must take a look at the world in a more relative sense.
I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be higher wages and even more “humane” working conditions. I’m just saying that they aren’t so gotdang evil as some people may like to make them out to be.