ya im sure those workers in china and other 3rd world countries love working 18 hour days making less than a dollar a day and being exploited by American companies
Do you think a loaf of bread in a third world country costs $4, or more like 10cents? Do you think they have to pay $200 a week for rent, or something like $3? The only things in a third world country that dont have costs relative to what the inhabitants earn, are imports, like cars, and electronics. So no, people in third world countrys probably dont like working without the prospect of ever owning a car, or an Ipad. but they're probably gratefull they can affoard to eat, live under a roof, and raise some kids.
What are their options? Work in factory or live in rural china grow your own food and while thats happening mabye starve to death. (Not to mention risking a failed crop) If anything the chinese are exploiting themselves because its making their country get richer.
european countries are not that bad in debt, Only the southern countries.. America is the real one in debt, and is taking europe down under. The money is only intended to PROTECT EU. Look up: American DEBT, ITS INSANE!
well - its always nice to annoy some people... But yeah your all right... people love working for $1 dollar a day. They love only having that option or starving. They love living in slums. Maybe true - but you could at least pay them a fair wages for a fair days work. so they can have there Ipods too... Right, so they get bread and no decent education for their kids cos they live in slums and you get a hummer. Seems fair to me. All Im saying is EVERYONE should have a higher standard of living. Not just you. Well, im glad you joined in. If its such a common remark, how come you cant argue it - instead of saying 'im not ignorant, your ignorant' Next time mate - just take the piss out of my mum.
Working in a sweat-shop is preferable to being a subsistence farmer your whole life. People LOOOOOOOVE to talk bad about sweat-shops, but they fail to realize that sweat-shop jobs are far better than anything else they have. They're the highest paying jobs in those countries. On the other hand, you have people who, all they do is farm. Farming is harder work, and it's less reliable. Your crops can be destroyed by a monsoon/tsunami, you could have below-average yields, and it's extremely physically demanding. The same thing happened in America, remember? There was a point in time where everyone was a subsistence farmer, but then we had the industrial revolution, and all of a sudden, industrial jobs were plentiful. They paid far better, and yes, you had long work schedules and there were a lot of deaths, but everyone involved was benefitting. You guys sure are quick to say these workers are 'exploited', but they sure seem happy to be 'exploited'.
How are they not fair wages? If we paid them the same as an American laborer we wouldn't be investing in their economy. They have a lower value of labor, but this will change over time as it did for us. They will get their ipods in time.
Its called Fair trade, Fairly simple concept - People are given more money for there produce generally by cutting out middle men. The Co-op (ethical wal-mart of the uk?) are pioneering it. Coffee has been the main for-runner - and its seems to be working. We pay an extra 10p for our coffee, but the farmers are directly benefiting from it. Have a look into Nestle's business tactics - some Mulit nationals are ethical. Some, like Nestle, bum rape other countries. Just looking into which business are ethically sound doesnt even effect your standard of living much - but can massively help other people. Erm? I was gonna take the piss... but i feel a more serious answer is in order. karma. Caring. your reap what you sow. And if you dont care about anyone else - they why should anyone give a fuck about your country. This is exactly the reason you get so many 'america are cunts' posts. because you dont care about anyone else. (that obviously doesnt stand as a blanket statement and is only meant for mr goblin69) So to answer you question: Everyone should care about everyone else, as all actions effect other people (across the globe) in a positive or negative way. If your a cunt to people, people will be cunts back. You ever wondered why eastern cultures hate western culture so much? The answer is in your question All for one and one for me! I hope you dont all think im a tit for making you angry / argue guys - I just like to get people to fully explain there points of view - Its the only way I get to expand my opinions. and ive never had the chance to get an american point of view. Ive actually learnt a good few things from this and will go away and look into both americas change from domestic farming to industrial revolution, and the same pattern in thrid world countries. Here in the UK, were actually doing the opposite, with a large amount of people investing in domestic farming again... Mainly because the amount of shit large scale companies put in food really messes your brain... The stuff in most soft drinks (aspartmine) really fucks your head...
It sounds like your trying to super impose your values on everyone. People have different values, you need to learn to accept that. If people want to help others, go for it, just don't force me to help. freedom is the only way. and arn't stores just middle men? why not cut out all the middle men and buy from farmers? Oh yeah cause thats extra time out of both buyers and producers time because the farmer will have to spend time selling instead of farming, and the buyer will have to locate the farmers who grew the exact crops they wanted, thus costing them more time than if all the products they wanted are in one big store where they can get everything they want it 12 minutes So you see middle men CAN (not always) accualy be a cost reducer(since time is a cost, as time has value)
Okay you dropped some great buzz words. Really impressive, you've got the liberal talking points down. Karma. Brotherhood of man. We should all help each other out. Now if everyone could just totally FEEL what it is you FEEL the world would be fixed. But back to my question. And how, precisely, do you propose to arrive at the "fair wage" value you speak of?
First off your view of Americans is very biased and ignorant. I cannot comprehend why you even made a post, because as you said yourself "I've never had the chance to get an American point of view." I'll try to give you a little insight on what a real American is, not the people you see in movies and tv from across the ocean. America was built by people looking for a higher standard of living. Not one ancestral line, even the slave owners of the past or CEOs of today, began without having to work very hard to get where they are today. Due to this hard work, eventually things became easier for people, but that is the result of hard work. Obviously, you have no clue about the American Industrial Revolution, but the problems with it are similar to those in China right now. The only reason we are not still there is because people kept working and were able to acquire their higher standard of living. Personally, my father (who is now an American) came from Nigeria to become a surgeon, so he could achieve a higher standard of living. Although it was fairly simple to type that, what my father had to do to attain such a thing I couldn't even imagine, which is a result of my father's hard work. So, before you try to stereotype the average American, please first learn what the average American actually is. Which is ironically probably someone whose roots can be traced back to the eastern cultures who "hate" us so much, and no different fundamentally then the average human being anywhere in the world.