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I'm not sure you would be as quick to sarcasm if you spent some time in Chinese factories. It's a though life, even in the good ones. As the purchaser you have

I'm not sure you would be as quick to sarcasm if you spent some time in Chinese factories. It's a though life, even in the good ones. As the purchaser you have a lot of power over the process, not just at one factory, but in which factory you choose. To me that also means you have a responsibility. The least anyone working with Chinese companies should do, is to go and look at the factories.

jblow 11y ago
Yes, it's a tough life, but people actually pick that life because other options are tougher (for example being a rural farmer somewhere). It is true that we should care about conditions in factories such as these and work to improve them. It's also true that if you insisted that Chinese workers get paid what American workers would, there would have been almost no factories and the entire country would still be in desolate poverty. Yes if there were no factories then probably the environment would be in a better condition. It's a very complex situation. Just picking one angle to it and insisting that angle holds the whole truth does not help anyone.
- hifromsz 11y ago
  "It's a very complex situation" Unfortunately that wasn't represented in the rest of your comment. That people have much of a choice in what is essentially an industrial revolution is quite far fetched, so is the notion that factory work is easier than farming. I'm also not sure what American salaries has do to with my comment at all. I'm purely stating that people should have some respect for what many Chinese are going through without all or nothing BS arguments. China is much more dynamic than people are used to in the west. The have a much wider range of offerings. If you don't demand anything you're going to get the lowest one. To the disadvantage of yourself and the people doing the job.
- kelukelugames 11y ago
  It's weird to hear you say insisting on one angle does not help anyone.
mistermann 11y ago
I think a lot of western consumers would be more than happy to pay just a little bit more if the $ was going into those workers pockets. But how do you make sure it gets there rather than into the pockets of the factory owner / local politician, where you will already find many, many hundreds of millions of dollars (that "could" have been paid to the poor Chinese factory line worker, rather than to such things as buying some 18 year old son studying in Vancouver a new Ferrari). Do leaders (political & economic) in non-western countries ever deserve any responsibility for their countries overall well-being?

jblow 11y ago

Yes, it's a tough life, but people actually pick that life because other options are tougher (for example being a rural farmer somewhere). It is true that we should care about conditions in factories such as these and work to improve them. It's also true that if you insisted that Chinese workers get paid what American workers would, there would have been almost no factories and the entire country would still be in desolate poverty. Yes if there were no factories then probably the environment would be in a better condition. It's a very complex situation. Just picking one angle to it and insisting that angle holds the whole truth does not help anyone.

hifromsz 11y ago
"It's a very complex situation" Unfortunately that wasn't represented in the rest of your comment. That people have much of a choice in what is essentially an industrial revolution is quite far fetched, so is the notion that factory work is easier than farming. I'm also not sure what American salaries has do to with my comment at all. I'm purely stating that people should have some respect for what many Chinese are going through without all or nothing BS arguments. China is much more dynamic than people are used to in the west. The have a much wider range of offerings. If you don't demand anything you're going to get the lowest one. To the disadvantage of yourself and the people doing the job.
kelukelugames 11y ago
It's weird to hear you say insisting on one angle does not help anyone.

mistermann 11y ago

I think a lot of western consumers would be more than happy to pay just a little bit more if the $ was going into those workers pockets. But how do you make sure it gets there rather than into the pockets of the factory owner / local politician, where you will already find many, many hundreds of millions of dollars (that "could" have been paid to the poor Chinese factory line worker, rather than to such things as buying some 18 year old son studying in Vancouver a new Ferrari). Do leaders (political & economic) in non-western countries ever deserve any responsibility for their countries overall well-being?