In “Where Sweatshops Are a Dream”, Nicholas Kristof states sweatshops may be too harsh in America’s eyes, but a dream for many families in poverty. Phnom Penh, Cambodia is a city where, in some places, the trash pile high and smoke fills the air. For the people who live there, scavenging through the trash, finding plastic and, selling it is just a way of life. Many Americans believe that labor laws should be improved to try to help them. However, what they do not see is that many want to work in sweat shops. To work in a sweatshop and get out of the trash collecting life is a goal for many people living there. Kristof defends his statement by saying sewing machine jobs would be a more preferable job then what people do in Phnom Penh. On the
Introduction Have you ever imagined working in a place where employees are subjected to dangerous working conditions, including unfair salaries and arbitrary punishments, such as physical and mental abuse? Since the hourly rate of sweatshop workers is less than their everyday expenses, these workers never have a chance to improve their quality of life. Ken Silverstein’s 2010 magazine article “Shopping for Sweat: The human cost of a two-dollar T-Shirt” outlines the harsh working conditions for many garment workers living in Cambodia. The topics discussed are slavery, ethical sourcing, public relations, productivity, poverty, and competitiveness.
Time and time again, there have been opposing views on just about every single possible topic one could fathom. From the most politically controversial topics of gun control and stem cell research to the more mundane transparent ones of brown or white rice and hat or no hat—it continues. Sweatshops and the controversy surrounding them is one that is unable to be put into simplistic terms, for sweatshops themselves are complex. The grand debate of opposing views in regards to sweatshops continues between two writers who both make convincing arguments as to why and how sweatshops should or should not be dealt with. In Sweat, Fire and Ethics, by Bob Jeffcott, he argues that more people ought to worry less about the outer layers of sweatshops and delve deeper into the real reason they exist and the unnecessariness of them. In contrast, Jeffrey D. Sachs writes of the urgent requirement of sweatshops needed during the industrialization time in a developing country, in his article of Bangladesh: On the Ladder of Development. The question is then asked: How do sweatshops positively and negatively affect people here in the United States of America and in other countries around the world?
As companies grow larger and more competitive, they are looking for cheaper ways to produce their wares and increase their profit. That is, after all, how companies are able to succeed, by giving their customers a comparable product for a cheaper price. This increases sales and the overall bottom line. Which seems to be a beneficial plan for both the companies and the consumers. That is, as long as the consumers don’t know how the product is being produced. The places that produce these products for an extremely cheap cost are called “Sweatshops”. A sweatshop is a small manufacturing establishment in which employees work long hours under substandard conditions for low wages. Sweatshops came about
Sweltering heat, long hours, and unfair working conditions are a few descriptive words that Americans use to describe a sweatshop. I believe our judgment is being misguided by the success of our nation, and it is imperative we redefine the word “sweatshop”. Individuals that endure life in third world countries know hardships that Americans could not imagine. If we were to recognize these economical differences it may shine a light on why these workers seek sweatshop jobs. In many of these cases, children must work to aid in the family’s survival. If these jobs are voluntary and both parties agree to work conditions, it results in a mutually beneficial arrangement. One of the worst things we can do as outsiders, to help these impoverished
Sweltering heat, long hours, unfair working conditions are a few descriptive words that Americans use to describe a sweatshop. I believe our judgment is being misguided by the success of our nation, and it is imperative we redefine the word “sweatshop”. Individuals that endure life in third world countries know hardships that Americans could not imagine. If we were to recognize these economical differences it may shine a light on why these workers seek sweatshop jobs. In many of these cases, children must work to aid in the family’s survival. If these jobs are voluntary and both parties agree to working conditions, it results in a mutually beneficial arrangement. One of the worst things we can do as outsiders, to help these impoverished
Sweatshops have been around for centuries, beginning around the late 1880’s. Sweatshops are classified by three main components, long work hours, very low pay and unsafe and unhealthy working environments. Sweatshops are usually found in manufacturing industries and the most highlighted production is clothing corporations, who take full advantage of the low production costs of their products. Many may think sweatshops are a thing of the past but they are still affecting many lives across the nations. There are many ways sweatshops affect lives, but a recent article titled “New study finds ‘more sweatshops than Starbucks’ in Chicago” explains that there are many low wage industry jobs that are violating labor laws in the United States alone. The article also reports how employees who are working in such conditions won’t speak up in fear of the retaliation employers will implement. Analyzing Sweatshops through the lens of the Sociological perspectives will help us better understand the illegal conditions of workplaces that still exist today.
It is important, however, to take a panoramic view on these factories to avoid bias, just as one would do for any other topic. Author Nicholas Kristof of the op-ed article “Where Sweatshops Are A Dream,” successfully and effectively does this in his article, in which he examines the lives of Asian factory workers and how they are affected by the presence of sweatshops. First off, Kristoff argues that from the perspective of someone living in extreme poverty such as this, any job would drastically improve one’s quality of life. He believes, to some extent, it comes down to the lesser of two evils: a paying job, no
The article speaks of why sweatshops aren't the worst jobs poor people can take in developing countries. It even says that women are positively impacted by working in sweatshops as they are less likely to become pregnant or married off. School enrollment rates are also supposedly higher amongst young women between the ages of 12-18. The article is right, without the pay families wouldn't be able to support themselves. Children would starve and desperation drives people to new limits of survival. Still, there’s no justification for the exploitation that's allowed to continue against people in developing countries. The fashion industry is a multi-trillion dollar operation and while workers can work upwards of 70 hour weeks their pay is
Thesis statement: Sweatshops, when left to operate without government intervention, are the most efficient way of out poverty.
By definition a sweatshop is a “negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay in horrible conditions, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay and or minimum wage”. Many corporations in the United States use sweatshop labor in countries over seas such as China to produce their products at a lower cost. As entailed in the letter from a man born in China, many citizens on these countries resort to factory labor to support themselves to escape other sources on income such as prostitution. Without these corporations usage of oversea sweatshops these employees would be forced to return to self-demeaning jobs such as these.
Prejudice causes a permanent scar on the people targeted. For centuries it has resulted in foolishness in the minds of people that has destroyed lives. When the seeds of prejudice grows to exponential amounts in someone’s mind it can transform into a vicious hatred. This disdain can affect everyone in a society like weeds in a garden. Prejudice because of race, religion, and socially can destroy and alter people’s lives detrimentally.
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 his New York Times opinion column, “Where Sweatshops Are a Dream”, writer Nicholas D. Kristof uses his experience living in East Asia to argue his positive outlook on sweatshops. Kristof wants to persuade his audience, Obama and his team, along with others who are for “labor standards”, that the best way to help people in poor countries is to promote manufacturing there, not campaign against them. He uses Phnom Penh as an example to show why working in the sweatshops is a dream for the families there. They would rather work at a sweatshop than stay in the dangerous garbage dump, searching for something to recycle for change. The writer establishes credibility through his experience
World War II World War II was a pivotal event of the 20th century and a defining
What is a multicultural classroom? First and foremost it is a classroom, characterized by an ethos of caring and equity. The pedagogy supports active participation through role-plays, simulations, and hands-on activities. Students learn, through their own experiences, that people's actions make a difference.