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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.Clothing brands must help ensure Asia's garment workers get a living wage
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englisc aspyrgend
Consumers also have a responsibility.
nath
Companies are not moral actors, and they primarily consider their bottom line. In point of fact, these companies don't have to guarantee a living wage, and will not consider it unless forced to do so - which the foreign manufacturers, factory owners and politicians in these countries will resist at every turn. Boycotts hurt the workers more than the manufacturers, and laws that provide protections for workers are an invitation for these companies to change locales. Capitalism is a race to the bottom.
sangetsu03
Yet one-fifth of the world's population has been pulled out of poverty by capitalist-driven globalization. If you have an understanding of economics, you would understand that wages don't remain low, and working conditions improve. These people would rather work long hours for low pay, than have no work or pay at all, right?
And let's not forget that Japan was once one of these low-cost, low wage countries which America outsourced all of it's toy, trinket, and appliance manufacturing to. I doubt Japan would say that capitalism is a "race to the bottom", though there is little capitalism left in Japan nowadays.
If you hate capitalism, you can always go to the workers' paradise in Venezuela or North Korea.
karlrb
It is the politics of debt, not capitalism, that is in a race to the bottom. The printing of fiat currencies to devalue them to make it easier for a country to pay its debt is not capitalism, it is just plain old politics - the fiat currencies are in a race to the bottom, but government led socialistic practices and controls are not going to provide the solutions.
Currencies go bust all the time. It is not if but when.
Looking at economic models such as any in South America aren't going to solve the problem.
Historically speaking, blaming capitalism is just stupid.
coskuri
Citizens have. I'm not sure the consumer has the means to check. 100% of clothes are imported, the retailer doesn't give you the information. H & M , they put labels saying "ethical clothes" but as you can read in the article, they've just being caught red handed for super unethical ways. So you buy what ?
There is a need for laws in both importing and producing countries, coming with serious random checking and punishment of makers caught breaking the rules.
And don't forget when dinosaurs... What happened 100 yrs ago is irrelevent.
Leila26
Poverty is all relative. There are poor in Japan and the US. in fact, US median wages have been dropping but rent and other costs of living are high. Venezuela, folks! Why aren't the authors crying about Venezuela?????? Or France, where the rich were taxed severely which caused many of them to leave France. This only made the average person poorer. The truth is, in my family, those who gave up the most time to become better educated or skilled became the wealthiest. And one of my relatives became very well educated after having about 5 miscarriages and stillborns. Sometimes, the most dateless people in high school become the wealthiest in the class because they try to make up for their physical shortcomings by studying harder. So, they become the doctors, lawyers, etc. I'm tired of the poor bashing the rich. Poor countries have overpopulated and we all (even liberals) know that. They need to control births and then will be wealthier.
Frederic Bastiat
Be honest; where do you buy your clothes and why?
Clothes, and other goods, made in developing countries provide the opportunity for less wealthy consumers to buy a wider variety of goods within their price range, and for people in developing economies to earn money they may otherwise not be able to earn.
There is a company that produces quality shirts in New England, as they have since 1933, but I doubt you'd be willing to buy your shirts from them. The workers work for a relatively reasonable wage compared to other garment industry workers, but are unlikely to be able to afford to buy one of the shirts they made themselves. This area was a hub of textile in America until the 1970's when manufacturers relocated south of the border to Central America.
http://www.newenglandshirtco.com/shop
Put your money where your mouth is. Will you buy your wardrobe from people trying to earn a "living wage"? And, NO, they don't get paid $15/hr. Imagine the prices if they did!
MsDelicious
The problem is that the rich govts. around the world make dictators billionaires as the monies donated never ever reach the people that need it. Maybe if the rich countries would stop all aid, we would see an attitude change in the leadership of said countries.
Alix Hooper
There's also the Kamakura Shirt Company. Made in Japan!