2008 Woodie Awards
Sweatshops Serve Purpose In The Third World
Dan Cunningham
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Commentary
Exercising one's right to live is the most important priority a person could have. By living, I do not mean "choice," "freedom," or a lavish "lifestyle," but simply the state of being where one is not dead. Economically speaking, a person should have the right to access a job where their wages can keep them alive. Last week was Human Rights Awareness week, which seemed to express the need to support every other "right" a person could have except the above. Instead of promoting that right, they pushed an elitist agenda of "living wage" by slamming "sweatshop" labor in favor of organic clothing.
For some reason, factories in Third World countries seem to be given really bad reputations, particularly by everyone outside of the country. The very name "sweatshop" exists solely to set a bad connotation for these factories. In fact, everyone seems to hate them except the community they support. It's hard to imagine why the community loves the factory, but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that nearly everyone that works there would have been starving to death if it weren't there. By that very fact alone, everyone should be promoting and celebrating these sweatshops.
Idealists claim that the sweatshops pay low wages and force people to work long hours. They might say that the corporations are suppressing the workers from unionizing and polluting the surrounding community. Finally, they would say that all of this is completely unacceptable and government must somehow intervene to stop corporations from doing this to people. Perhaps all of these will need to be addressed before people can begin celebrating foreign factory production.
Most idealists will use individual examples to try to undermine an entire system. They might come up with fancy stories as to how they found out that wages are so low and how people are miserable working in sweatshops. It turns out that full studies have actually been performed observing the wages in third world country factories. In Benjamin Powell's "Sweatshops and Third World Countries: Are the jobs worth the sweat?" the wages in 11 countries were analyzed and the sweatshop wages were compared with the average wages of the country. In nine of those countries, the reported sweatshop wages were equal to or greater than the national average. In at least three of those countries, the wages were more than three times greater than the national average.
For some reason, factories in Third World countries seem to be given really bad reputations, particularly by everyone outside of the country. The very name "sweatshop" exists solely to set a bad connotation for these factories. In fact, everyone seems to hate them except the community they support. It's hard to imagine why the community loves the factory, but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that nearly everyone that works there would have been starving to death if it weren't there. By that very fact alone, everyone should be promoting and celebrating these sweatshops.
Idealists claim that the sweatshops pay low wages and force people to work long hours. They might say that the corporations are suppressing the workers from unionizing and polluting the surrounding community. Finally, they would say that all of this is completely unacceptable and government must somehow intervene to stop corporations from doing this to people. Perhaps all of these will need to be addressed before people can begin celebrating foreign factory production.
Most idealists will use individual examples to try to undermine an entire system. They might come up with fancy stories as to how they found out that wages are so low and how people are miserable working in sweatshops. It turns out that full studies have actually been performed observing the wages in third world country factories. In Benjamin Powell's "Sweatshops and Third World Countries: Are the jobs worth the sweat?" the wages in 11 countries were analyzed and the sweatshop wages were compared with the average wages of the country. In nine of those countries, the reported sweatshop wages were equal to or greater than the national average. In at least three of those countries, the wages were more than three times greater than the national average.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
thank you
posted 4/23/08 @ 12:10 PM EST
thank you.
just thank you for saying what i know too many are afraid to say, and doing so intelligently.
bitch
posted 4/23/08 @ 6:11 PM EST
This has some truth. Where would the U.S. be if factory owners during the turn of the century had not exploited their workers, and rather unionized during this period??
ron
posted 4/23/08 @ 7:42 PM EST
Mr Cunningham is wrong on every "fact'
Because of presure from the "Eletist" companies like Target,Walmart Levi-Straus and many more have worked to improve working conditions at concentration camps ie: sweatshops, that provide the toxic junk we buy from them, lead painted toys, toothpaste with antifreze as a sweetner ect. (Continued…)
JoeC
posted 4/23/08 @ 8:17 PM EST
As an alumni, I am truly embarassed by the notion that Mr. Cunningham is about to get his degree from the University of Connecticut. Even worse, his degree is in Economics. (Continued…)
Brody
posted 4/23/08 @ 10:37 PM EST
UCONN should refund Mr. Cunningham's tuition dollar$
Jeff
posted 4/24/08 @ 12:55 AM EST
One take-away message here seems to be that it was OK for our grandmoms to fight for higher wages (and unions), because the factories could not close and make socks and underwear in a nearby low-wage country. (Continued…)
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