7 ms·
For all the focus on the negative, what about the fact that millions of people are being lifted up out of abject poverty? Even a long-hours factory job with so
by wes-exp 15y ago
For all the focus on the negative, what about the fact that millions of people are being lifted up out of abject poverty?
Even a long-hours factory job with some safety risks could be better than facing starvation. Not saying conditions couldn't be improved, but, just to think about the situation in the bigger picture.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- wes-exp 15y agoI made the assumption based on the idea that industrialization has historically provided better living standards than an agricultural way of life. If that is not actually happening, please forgive me for my ignorance of the situation. Maybe "out of poverty" is the wrong wording and it should be stated as "making life a little less difficult". I at least would like to hope that the current conditions are a temporary, intermediate step in bigger improvements. You might be aware that there was a time when the US had pretty bad environmental conditions in many places. In 1969, the Cuyahoga river was so polluted that it caught on fire (http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_...). In general, pollution had been bad for a long time, but it seems like a "tipping point" had to be reached where the problem was obvious to everyone. Reforms eventually came and succeeded in cleaning things up. So hopefully, given enough time, the kinds of issues you've described can be solved.