The work and pressure placed upon these factory workers pushes them to carry an unwanted burden and unnecessary stress. The Telegraph, a United Kingdom based news site, released an article called “'Mass suicide' protest at Apple manufacturer Foxconn factory” that explained to the world exactly what was happening in the factories in China. The conditions surrounding these workers triggered them to contemplate, attempt, and commit suicide. The Guardian, a British newspaper, released a story of “The woman who nearly died making your iPad”. In 2010, Tian Yu, a seventeen-year-old female who worked in the Foxconn factory, “threw herself from the fourth floor of her factory dormitory”, due to the working conditions she faced daily. Fortunately, she …show more content…
Capitalism is an economic system where the government has little control over private-owned companies. A book titled “Capitalism from Below: Markets and Institutional Change in China” written by Victor Nee and Sonja Opper focuses on capitalism in China, and how it directly affects the country. Written in the book, it states “the rise of a privately owned manufacturing economy has played a key role in wealth creation and has changed china’s industrial landscape dramatically”, showing that these companies are fundamental aspects to China’s economy. In order for China to make a profit, the government developed and used “innovative informal arrangements within networks of like-minded economic actors that provided the necessary funding and reliable business norms”, constructing a master plan to a successful and wealthy …show more content…
China’s unethical and immoral uses of harsh punishment, low pay, and filthy dormitories. “China: Labor Conditions and Unrest” written in 2001 by Thomas Lum analyzes labor laws in China as a whole. The article pinpoints abuse in labor laws saying “labor abuses in some foreign firms include physical punishment, verbal humiliation, severe restrictions on movement, and lack of rest”, “physical punishment, including being struck or slapped and ordered to kneel or stand on a stool”, and “12- 13-hour work days without overtime pay, being fired without just cause, and lack of compensation for injury”. China fails to protect these workers from the hash punishment from the officials at the companies. China also neglects to punish the managers and factories for allowing these harsh conditions pass without acknowledgement. Within three years, “labor disputes have risen over 40% annually”, bringing much attention to labor in China. Despite the media covering the harsh conditions, and the labor-law breaking in these factories, the Chinese government brushes the issues off and develops temporary
Even with her previous experiences at Beijing University and at Big Joy Farm, Wong still held some belief that the Chinese system wasn’t as bad as it was sometimes made out to be. This event proved to her that it was. “The enormity of the massacre hit home…Although it had been years since I was a Maoist, I still had harbored some small hope for China. Now even that was gone” (259). As a reporter Wong was able to view the progression of the protests in leading up to the massacre, and in viewing it understood that the Chinese people were much more independent than they had previously demonstrated over the past 50 years. She had continuously seen the Chinese people following what they were told between learning in school or with physical labor, yet this protest was one of the first large scale displays of the unacceptance of the regime by the people, and the government did not know what to do with it. But because of this, Wong was able to recognize that the people were not reliant on this way of life that they had previously been bound to, but truly could lead for themselves and take control. The massacre awakened Wong both to the reality that the government was not acting to benefit the people, and that the people were more than capable of acting for
The political alarm in my mind went off. It is always hard to imagine inhumanity such as this happening today, as my frame of experience draws upon working at Best Buy Geek Squad and the only mistreatment I have ever dealt with is a vertically-challenged manager who nicknamed me “Brokeback” because I wore cowboy boots. The compilation of stories from China presented by Rivoli especially hit home for me because during my time trying to start a clothing company, my team never discussed any “sweatshop” issues. I view myself as an ethical entrepreneur and it was hard to stomach the fact that during my time starting Austerity Clothing last year, we talked to death about “green” products, but not once had the thought even crossed my mind that our products could have possibly been manufactured in Chinese “sweatshops”. After I took the red pill of responsibility, I found it fascinating the policies I had never heard of in communist China, such as the hukou. In the book, Rivoli translates that the "hukou is a place of household registration." (87) The way it is described seemed similar to the Indian caste system of classifying its citizens. The idea that people can be classified as simply “farm people” or “city people” and that title defines who they are as a person is so
In recent years, China has become a worldwide superpower-seemingly out of nowhere. War-torn and sick of being trampled on by western powers, the Communist Party of China has given the almost 4,000 year old country a new lease on life. But all this newfound power and “prosperity” came at a price paid in sweat and blood. In the memoir Red Scarf Girl, Jiang Ji-Li recalls her experiences growing up during Chairman Mao’s “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”, during a time where hundreds of thousands were unfairly persecuted and even tortured by their brainwashed friends and family. Although it is clear that my experiences and Jiang Ji-Li’s are very different, there are also some similarities.
In her paper, “The ‘revenge of history’: China’s collective memories and labor protests in north eastern China,” Ching Kwan Lee describes how China’s market reform has led to mass unemployment and poverty among state workers in the rustbelt of China. This declining standard of living has resulted a nostalgia for Maoist socialism, in what she calls “the revenge of history,” or the idea that those who have benefited the most from socialistic policies lost the most after the market reforms. The plight of these workers is dramatized in the movie “Blind Shaft,” where Li Yang tells the story of two con artists who trick migrant workers into joining them in the coal mines, only to kill them in the mines and reap profits in the form of “hush money” from the corrupt owners of the mines. Lee’s idea of the “revenge of history” is useful for interpreting this movie, because it provides context for the events depicted, allowing the audience to gain a better understanding of the motivations of the con artists. At first glance, the con artists are just greedy men, looking to make a quick profit. Looking from the Lee’s perspective, however, shows that these men are forced into this situation because of the poverty pushed onto them by capitalistic market reforms. Lee’s metaphor of “the revenge of history” allows the audience to gain a more complex and nuanced view of the characters Song Jinming and
Communism in China as we know has played a major role in the countries political system over the past century. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were the co-founders of the communist party in 1921. At the time China was in a world or turmoil ever since the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. For 10 years China was lost in a world with new ideas coming from all over the world. At the time, Duxiu and Dazhao saw an opportunity to bring change throughout a weakened China and they exploited it. The communist influence being brought by them and powers such as Russia influenced the Chinese way of thinking that Communism had new beliefs of the world and that all people should be seen as equal under the new government. Personally I am a very strong believer in
As the Industrial Revolution begins, the idea of capitalism began to come up. It is economic and political system in which private owners control the country’s trade and industry for personal profit. The government intervenes the least as possible so that the best companies survive
Another vital thing the two countries still do not agree on is human rights. Many Americans do not agree with the Communist government and the government having the power to control how many babies people can reproduce or the lack of freedom of speech in China, just like the Chinese does not agree with many of our customs and government structure. China exercise power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public. The ideologies of communism have an enormous amount of influence in China. Both the government and its people hold firm traditional values such as, peace, order and stability in both the family and nation, which is the blueprint in Chinese politics, which create loyalty towards those in power. China’s authoritarian
In the film “China Blue”, a seventeen year old girl, Jasmine Li, works in a Chinese jeans factory. From this documentary we learn about the pay Jasmine was receiving for her hard work, half a Yuan an hour which is equal to about six US cents. We also learn about the condition of the factory and dorms, the rules that the workers have to abide to, and how important these factories are. From just these sweat shops we learn about the economic, social, and political problems that has arisen in China. It also shows us inequality and inequity of the society in China.
As long as a labor force has been in America, changes have been made to determine the most productive sense of business without affecting its negligence of working conditions. Records of dangerous or fatal activities, along with a substantial amount of shameful business conditions, have been noted before during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. It has sadly emerged into a darker form of punishment that has scourged the workforce within most extreme productions of goods. Although there can be many bad things said about working conditions within minimum wage jobs, some families are reduced to working illegal jobs for poor wages under the administration of corrupt supervisors, and the products they collect are sold by massive corporations. Rose Schneiderman, once an employee at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was quoted saying “… the life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred! There are so many of us for one job, it matters little if 140-odd are burned to death.” Her account has stayed true for over a century since the words left her lips.
“To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice,” stated Desmond Tutu. In 2011, studies found out that in the state of California, they’ve spent over four billion dollars on capital punishments since 1978. Trials that can result in the death penalty are 20 times more expensive on tax payers than those that can’t. The death penalty should be abolished world-wide. There are plenty of reasons that the death penalty should be outlawed. Cost, wrongful convictions and executions of innocent people, and the suffering of the accused are the main reasons (EJUSA, n.d.).
George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, shows society is glued together by alliances against enemies. The potential is boundless when people join arms to fight an opposing force. If one’s individual presence leaves a long shadow, the other’s allegiance will only compliment and strengthen its formidable approach. An ancient threat is of no use to those in power.
“Inside the factory, amid clattering machinery and clouds of sawdust, men without earplugs or protective goggles feed wood into screaming electric saws, making cabinets for stereo speakers” (Goodman and Pan 1). In the article Chinese Workers Pay for Wal-Mart’s Low Prices by Peter Goodman and Philip Pan the mistreatment of the migrant workers in China is evident. These kinds of behaviors are taking place all over in China. The abuse of the Chinese work force has reached terrible proportions and created unlawful conditions because of the demanding economy of China, and other countries’ needs of the goods; however, the companies that are centered in China are working to make sure their workers are treated fairly.
On the other hand, her International Management class had exposed her to the harsh reality of working conditions in China: low wages, rigorous work schedule, poor safety regulations, and
Have you ever wondered what it was like in the past when cars had to be started with a key and you had to wait all day to hear your favorite song played on the radio? Have you wondered how it was when the radio first came out? What were the DJ’s like and what were the most popular things heard on the radio? If you have thought about any of these things then keep reading!
By definition, Capitalism is an economic system controlled chiefly by individuals and private companies instead of by the government. In this system, individuals and companies own and direct most of the resources used to produce goods and services, including land and other natural resources labor, and “capital”. “Capital” includes factories and equipment and sometimes the money used in businesses (Friedman, 5).