Week 4
ASA 141
The society has grown to depend on numerous corporate brands for entertainment, clothing, etc. What comes with the trend of want is a wave of mass production and consumerism. People often fall to cheaper, convenient products, at the same time ignoring the external cost that comes with producing these cheap, quickly-disposable products. William J. Holstein addresses the global sweatshop issue and the market forces that influence workplace conditions in his article, Santa's Sweatshop. "In an era when the economy is necessarily a global one, it is impossible for consumers to avoid products made under less than ideal labor conditions." Many global corporations spread out their productions all over the world to seek cheaper manufacturing prices. Just like the Netflix film that we watched in class, for factories in developing countries, it is either to lower prices to a minimum, or have no business at all. These minimum wages correlate to poor working condition for the workers and raises further problems that challenge basic human rights.
It is definitely counterintuitive to point a finger at one company for their exploitation for sweatshop workers. Almost everything that an individual owns is a product of a global system that involves harsh working conditions. Holstein's article exemplifies some of the corporations that are attempting to have control of the working condition of their production process and calls out corporations that are not quite so acknowledging the importance because they do not want to spend effort or money. This led me to think about the extent to which profit is valued over humanity. Even for corporations that do highlight their emphasis on providing safe working conditions on their websites, it is hard to pinpoint who is going to be reinforcing these healthy working conditions in the long run. The local government? Worker's union? How much power do people really have over these billion dollar corporations and who can really protect these people?
(Walmart is one of the only companies that refused to sign an international worker safety agreement.)
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