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As to your second argument, I'm still not sure why it is legal to buy or own materials in the US created by human rights abuse. Let's take a case of a Chinese

As to your second argument, I'm still not sure why it is legal to buy or own materials in the US created by human rights abuse. Let's take a case of a Chinese good produced by political slaves in prison. By buying or owning that good, a person is financially supporting the abuse that went into creating that good. Same applies for something that is produced for cheaper due to an ability to pollute in ways that aren't legal in the US (or other countries, this argument need not be just for the US). But there are some digital goods where we do not give this same treatment (namely digital material involving really bad child maltreatment). Regardless of the legality of where the material is produced, owning it in the US is illegal because it couldn't legally be produced in the US and funding such illegal action elsewhere is considered morally wrong enough to ban. Simply put, I think the core idea should be applied to all financial transactions. If one is buying a good or service that would be illegal in the US due to harm to another human, it should be illegal to buy or own in the US, even if where it is produced is legal. The law should prevent a person from harming another human by shopping around and finding wherever has the least legal protections.

tsomctl 9y ago
You might want to read one of the many pieces written about Henry Kissinger. The world is not a pleasant place.
exelius 9y ago
The problem is that the US has no moral high ground here. We too have prisoners manufacturing goods below minimum wage, and while you won't be jailed in the US because of your political affiliation, you definitely can be jailed because of your religion, ethnicity, etc. If we applied this to foreign transactions, foreign countries could easily use the same grounds to block goods and services coming from the US.
mistermann 9y ago
I agree, but I can't see how you would enforce this, whatever mechanism you put in place would be worked around immediately. Plus, it's not like US corporations who are benefiting from what is next-to-slave-labor are going to be terribly vigilant in making sure their manufacturers are compliant. In the end, greed almost always wins, even in the most "advanced" societies.
neves 9y ago
What about in a place with no unions? No minimum wage? No workers rights?

tsomctl 9y ago

You might want to read one of the many pieces written about Henry Kissinger. The world is not a pleasant place.

exelius 9y ago

The problem is that the US has no moral high ground here. We too have prisoners manufacturing goods below minimum wage, and while you won't be jailed in the US because of your political affiliation, you definitely can be jailed because of your religion, ethnicity, etc. If we applied this to foreign transactions, foreign countries could easily use the same grounds to block goods and services coming from the US.

mistermann 9y ago

I agree, but I can't see how you would enforce this, whatever mechanism you put in place would be worked around immediately. Plus, it's not like US corporations who are benefiting from what is next-to-slave-labor are going to be terribly vigilant in making sure their manufacturers are compliant. In the end, greed almost always wins, even in the most "advanced" societies.

neves 9y ago

What about in a place with no unions? No minimum wage? No workers rights?