Generally, globalism has been attributed to better worldwide communication, advanced technological development, and a higher international standard of living, and rightfully so. However, with all these new worldwide advantages comes a new type of human exploitation. Many companies, specifically American ones, have been quick to take advantage of the cheap and dangerous labor available in most of the undeveloped world. Countries who are working through their period of Industrialization are being siphoned off and used to maintain America’s economy, while their developing country reaps no reward from the low paying, dehumanizing jobs that American companies offer their low class workers. This type of inhumane job outsourcing can only be compared …show more content…
This type of consumerist culture is built deeply into the structure of American society. We have accepted, and expect, that every American family will include a flat screen TV, a collection of iPhones that we break as we please and replace for close to nothing, mass-produced, cheap clothing, and easily available food any time of the year. This advancement in the standard of living was not completely of our own doing. It was created partly through the exploitation of countries and workers who are years behind us in terms of economic development, and who we have stunted through our participation in their pre-modern labor …show more content…
D. Meyers said in his article, “Moral Duty, Individual Responsibility, and Sweatshop Exploitation”, “Whatever extra we would have to pay for a new pair of sneakers is not comparable to the suffering that could be prevented by giving sweatshop workers a living wage”(Meyers, 2). His statement perfectly sums up the sentiment of this paper. We live in a world where a small percentage of the global population lives in excess, while a larger portion lives in harsh poverty. If those of us who are privileged enough to have been born into a white, First World, industrialized country learned how to get by with less, the poverty-stricken factory workers of the world could be emancipated and free to develop in their own economies. Toni Morison wrote in The Bluest Eye, it is easier to address the “how” than to examine the “why”. I say that it is also easier to address the “what” but not the “how”. If Americans become self aware in our excess and splendor, and consider the oppressed working masses who have allowed us to thrive and live in comfort, how do we create change? We need to fight for American jobs, not because we value American lives more, but because we value them equally. We need to protest companies who exploit cheap labor, and we need to vote for legislation that makes this type of exploitation impossible. Corporations will create American jobs if they have no other choice, and other countries will thrive if they are not being choked by the hand of American consumerism.
In the essay “Sweatshop Oppression”, the writer, Rajeev Ravisankar begins his essay by building a connection with the audience by establishing common ground when he states, “being the “poor” college students that we all are” (Ravisankar, 2006). The problem he identifies is the significantly poor working conditions and slave labor wages that are often the price for cheaper goods from large renowned companies. Ravisankar assumes his readers are college students, and unaware of the reality of and often destitute conditions of these sweatshops. His goal is to not only bring awareness to the reality of sweatshop oppression, but how others, such as USAS have stepped up to bring change, and what
The amount of consumerism that happens every day of our life is something people in society may never think of. Consumerism is everywhere in our societies. .Consumer culture is the value of where our thoughts are on the buying and selling of goods or services and how we use the resources that we consume. In the article “Devil Takes Visa” on consumer culture, Clapp would say everything people do is becoming consumeristic, from going to church or going to school we are consumers. Consumer culture is all around and all through us whether we believe it or not we are constantly being consumers of many products and services. Americans are constantly consuming and it’s something I wouldn’t agree more on. I’ve never really stopped and thought about
According to Derber, “Globalism promises to further weaken the social ties and values that civilize both individuals and business. Unencumbered by national loyalties, corporations now ram the world searching for the cheapest labor in desperately poor countries” (Derber, p. 54). Globalization is a form of corporate wilding because the corporation will do anything to increase their profits and pay for cheap wages.
“Globalization means different things to different people,” so therefore individuals have their own standpoints regarding various things. In this case, an issue that has arisen is the allegation of mistreatment of employees in developing countries. Slimline is an apparel manufacturer in Sri Lanka, which does business disparately. The company employs 5000+ employees, whom help produced $50 million worth of apparel annually. In this company, the entry level wages are set higher than the local markets and to mention that some of their employees have undergraduate and graduate degrees. Slimline does not have the typical
The Business Dictionary defines consumerism as the “continual expansion of one’s wants and needs for goods services” (2016). Despite consumerisms current negative connotation, according to Dictionary.com the term itself originated with a more positive economic connotation in the early 1940s on the basis that consumerism inspired growth (2016). This concept of continual desire for the “latest and greatest” first became popular in the 1920s. Americans were tired of the strict rationing of World War I and were ready to begin spending money again. As production rose in efficiency and capacity, thanks to improvements made during the war, there was plenty to be sold. “By the 1920s, America was a society in which many men and women could afford
It was Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance." Many people in the Western world either do not know or choose to ignore the fact that a massive amount of products that come into North America from faraway lands are produced in sweatshops, including shoes, clothing, and toys. This ignorance over the inhumane and unjust labour conditions happening in factories on other sides of the globe is precisely what keeps these horrifying practices alive. China is home to one of the most enormous and concentrated sweatshop systems in the world. There are approximately 150 million people in China working in ghastly conditions, having to live off nearly unsustainable pay, and being refused benefits
In society, many make a living by working for others to get the necessities they need. Workers face many struggles such as wage cuts, horrendous work conditions, an increase in hours, due to these conditions they are labeled ‘wage slaves.’ These individuals have no choice but to work in these conditions. The growth of industry in the United States made corruption easier and made employers richer while the poor stayed poor. The employers justify their actions by arguing that the employees have a choice to go and work for someone else. However, workers do not have the choice to work for others since most employers were using the same method to make a profit. Workers are treated unfairly, but they use many effective techniques such as strikes
2) In the interview with the Mises Institute called, “Sweatshops: A Way Out of Poverty,” Powell talks about how living standards rise in areas with sweatshops as well as how sweatshops actually pay well in comparison to other jobs (Powell,
My chosen theme, dehumanization, has affected my thoughts about our responsibility to one another by making me realize that we are not different at all, in fact, we’re all the same. No matter what race, gender, religion, or sexual preference. We should be responsible for one another because we are all human, not wild animals. We should not have to fight over trivial things, we are all livings beings but my evidence could almost prove otherwise, these starved, beaten, and tortured men have become
In the memoir “Night” by Elie Wiesel, experiences of trauma and dehumanization are vividly portrayed. This text explores the idea that dehumanization is (quite often) a result of trauma as it can cause a sense of detachment between the perpetrator and the victim. Perpetrators are led to feel as if they are causing harm towards insignificant or inanimate objects rather than towards other human beings while victims are made to feel as if they are inhuman objects. The memoir “Night” serves to support the idea that dehumanization is a consequence of trauma as it demonstrates the objectification of both the victim and the perpetrator, the isolation forced upon the victims and the
The treatment of workers is a growing issue and it’s going to keep on growing and growing if people don’t realize what these big companies are doing and put a stop to it. For example the shoe company Nike employs many people but the thing people don’t know is that there are 12,000 young women in Indonesia making the lowest amount of money and working long tiring shifts. Every $80 sneaker Nike makes it only costs them 12 cents for the labor. This shows the unfair treatment of these workers and how the company is taking advantage of them and it is not only Nike doing this but any major company uses the same force of labor. In “Who Makes the Clothes We Wear?” it says “Government officials raided a sweatshop filled with immigrant Thai women laboring as little as 59 cents per hour.”Also not only were they being taken advantage of the discipline was enforced by threats of rape and beatings.(26) This goes to show the little care they have for these workers and the actions that are being taken against them. It also shows a dark side to these companies in which the workers are being treated worst than dogs.
Globalization can be seen as a major threat for manufacturing jobs in the developed world, however, can also be a benefit for developing world citizens who receive thousands of jobs a year although they don’t receive a high salary. Maurice Allais, a French economist states that this unemployment, of course, has only been able to develop because of the existence of low salaries and insufficient flexibility in the labor market (April 10th, 1999). This indicates that globalization has jeopardized Western countries jobs because companies are moving their establishments to developing countries where they don’t need to pay employees as much and where land is cheaper so overall businesses benefit from this. Also, employees in the developed world are at risk of becoming redundant as they are susceptible to face pay cuts in jobs. Employees are less skilled in the developing world as they don’t receive the benefit of an education like developed countries do. So a company may want to build factories in these countries because environmental laws aren’t as strict. Establishments in these areas provides promising jobs for the local people and allows them to learn new skills, however they are set on minimum wage which in developed world countries, this would not be enough to live on, wherein third world countries this is still a low amount so this is not enough to bring them out of poverty meaning that the only one who benefits from this is the company. Although there have been several arguments against exploitation and oppression, the majority of developing countries do not have existing laws which take minimum wage
Supporters of globalization argue that it has the potential to make this world a better place to live in and solve some of the deep-seated problems like unemployment and poverty. But the opponents general complaint about globalization is that it has made the rich richer while making the non-rich poorer. “It is wonderful for managers, owners and investors, but hell on workers and nature.”
Across the world, globalization is one of the most significant aspects that has occurred over the last fifty years. It allows a country to integrate economically with other countries through a global network comprised of people, trade, and transportation. With the global landscape only becoming more intertwined, globalization and its inherent pros and cons seem to be here to stay. In many areas, global powers tend to lack in rectifying the negative aspects and only focus on the positive side. America, for example, is a leader in the globalization efforts, even though it has greatly effected job opportunities at home, widening income gaps, and an increased standard of living due to fluctuating world markets.
When the American colonies separated from the British Empire in 1776, United States citizens were filled with an ardor for nationalism, freedom and selfsufficiency that has remained in the hearts of Americans to this day. One of the fundamental policies adopted due to this appreciation for selfrule and liberty is the economic system known as capitalism. And although the United States government set out on a mission to spread propaganda in the 1940s in order to highlight the superiority of capitalism over socialism, our beloved laissezfaire system has a major darkside (Picture). “According to the United States Department of Labor, over 50% of U.S. garment factories are sweatshops.1012 hour days, six to seven days a week are the regular hours that garment workers toil in the United States” (Homeworkers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act 1). Capitalism runs on selfinterest, and encourages the exploitation of the people who are the most vulnerable – women, children and migrant workers (Mayday). Under the capitalistic form of economy, powerful individuals are encouraged to take advantage of their workers in order to gain profit for themselves. This system puts the disenfranchised at the mercy of the controlling