Sweatshops - a necessary evil?

Inspiration for Article:

After much internal debate about what topic would make the first appearance on this blog, I had actually decided on writing about the Kurds (an article I've wanted to write for a while). But between doing research for that and reading my current book, The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, the book has won out. So it occurred to me to discuss some of the issues that he addresses in the book as they are relevant to this blog's theme. Should be simple enough. Here's one, I'm sure there will be more (it's a fascinating book that touches so many issues):

There are certain things that are accepted by society to be entirely evil: Sweatshops, child labor, genocide, with of course the poster boy of evil -Hitler. These things are without a doubt horrible and undesirable, but are certain ones necessary evils? Jeffrey Sachs argues that sweatshops are a necessary rung on the ladder of economic development, and he makes a convincing argument. At first glance, without reviewing the stages of development, there are benefits that are immediately noticeable. For one, because sweatshops have been geared towards women, they are in a very real sense empowering women who previously had no opportunity to work, least of all have economic rights. True, they still face assault every day, sexual and physical at work and at home, because of the overly patriarchal tendencies of many developing nations. But it is still progressing. Many of the women come from impoverished backgrounds, prone to famine, disease and illiteracy where very few had control over any aspect of their lives. An opportunity to work 12 hours doing grueling tasks with few breaks may seem horrendous to a person in a developed country, but to the desperate it has a totally different quality.

Sachs discusses a country specific case in Bangladesh, where women were still able to save small amounts of money from their pitiful wages and have control over their own personal finances. They were given control over the most important decisions concerning their own lives because they could support themselves. Not only could they then rent their own rooms and choose who they marry, but many saved to go back to school to become literate and get other marketable skills. These are women of rural backgrounds who had nothing comparable to this before. Their rural origins are also changing quickly through remittances that the women send back to their families and the idea of self-determination for women is catching on like wildfire.

The country’s statistics also speak loudly, considering the GDP per capita has doubled since Bangladesh was created in 1971. More showing is the decrease in infant mortality from 145 per 1000 births in 1970 to 48 per 1000 births by 2002. A decrease in infant mortality, especially one that dramatic, is generally indicative of improved living conditions for women, including health care and literacy. Many protesters from developed nations advocate for closing these sweatshops if the wages are not raised. Although these protests in the past have helped improve the working conditions in these factories, they still must tread carefully. Closing these factories could have devastating effects on the macro and micro level. It would sentence these women and their families back into the extreme poverty they are only recently crawling out of. Every developed nation has had sweatshops. It’s when countries, like Malawi, can’t even get to that level because they’re overridden with AIDS and other preventable diseases. Their working population (roughly ages 25-45) has all but vanished due to AIDS, leaving grandparents and children to rely on hardly self-efficient farming prone to drought and unsustainable farming methods. A little over a billion fellow Earth dwellers live on less than $1 a day, and die from preventable diseases at a rate of 20,000 a day. A sweatshop, with all its appalling qualities, can still pull millions out of destitute poverty, and push them in the direction of development.

From a personal perspective, I want to state that I have been blessed to have never had to step foot into a sweatshop, and honestly struggle with the concept of advocating for them. However, I have seen severe poverty and I’ve heard from families desperate to work but with no where to go. One such experience was in 2001, and I was privileged to be taken in by a family with various political connections and involved with Rotary Club International, in the city of Portoviejo, Ecuador. It’s the third largest city in Ecuador, and at the time it was also the poorest. Even the guide books written on Ecuador simply referred to it as a great place to catch a bus - to somewhere else. I spent a year there, being shown things by extraordinarily passionate Ecuadorians who dedicated most of their lives to improving their country and the lives of its people. Illiteracy was rampant, and the hospital where they worked lacked funding in a severe way - their newest equipment was 50 years old. There was a tremendous gap between the rich and the poor, with very few exceptions meeting the standards of middle class. For example, I worked with an English teacher who only received $40 a month in salary. The school she taught at was the most affordable in Portoviejo, but still too expensive for many of the children who lived in the slums skirting the city. The haves and the have-nots lived in completely separate worlds which would quite often collide violently with one another.

I was distraught one day, discussing the extreme poverty just outside the door with a member of the family I was staying with. The poor had no opportunity to improve their living conditions, and the random acts of charity from the Rotary Club simply didn’t strike me as having a sustaining impact. They were desperate enough to send their children into the streets from the time they could walk, all day long, to sell Chicklets instead of attending school. I didn’t understand why there was nothing - no social ladder; no opportunity. Why couldn’t the world be like the U.S. in that aspect? I was young, and didn’t understand a lot but I remember being astounded there were no factories to provide steady wages or some sort of stability to their volatile lives. I was told there were factories, there just weren’t enough. Sweatshops seem horrible, unless the alternative fate seems much worse than working long hours.

In conclusion, on this issue, I agree with Sachs that sweatshops may in fact be a necessary evil in the road to development. However, I do believe it is an obligation of developed nations to continue protesting the ill-treatment of workers, but it should be in a more responsible manner and not pressuring ultimatums such as shutting up shop if they do not comply with the approved wage increase.

The Introduction

In this adventure called life, I have learned that there are issues that invoke arguing almost instantaneously, which is why I associate these conversations with talking to a wall. These issues are mostly in the neighborhood of Politics (including international affairs and events) and Religion - my two favorite topics. Unfortunately no one ever wants to discuss them, only argue about them – hence the blog. I also felt that since college, I have been slowly losing touch with all the issues I used to be so passionate about. I hope that in doing this blog - thanks to the suggestion of one of my awesome friends- that it will give me the opportunity to stay up to date with events and hopefully learn more. Plus, this is fun for me. :)

Various experiences have taught me that Religion and quite often Politics are regarded as beliefs that are not based on evidence and therefore must be guarded defensively by those who hold these beliefs - especially when approached with logic. But please understand, I believe in faith and I think we need it to survive in this world. How one goes about not believing in God, or any other superior entity is a scary concept to me. Faith is a beautiful thing, but I don't believe it should be used as an enabler to close-mindedness, passing judgment, or - most importantly - insult/violence to another human being. Don't be afraid of discovery.

With Political views, I would really like to point out: Parties/politicians/countries are not sports teams, you don't root for them regardless of how they play. There needs to be accountability and transparency for their actions. Instead, what you find is everyone believing "It is so" because someone with a lot of media coverage said, "It is so." I've noticed that people feel very passionately about a variety of things, without knowing why they feel the way they do - which in turn makes them defensive when they are confronted with oposing opinions. Defensiveness is not inherently bad, but without reason it becomes an unjustified, unintelligible stream of incomplete thoughts or insults. For example, it's disturbing to read the presidential primary blogs and see people throwing incredibly offensive insults at each other that have nothing to do with why one should vote for a president. The assumptions people are making are destructive and worrisome. It is a dangerous thing to assume the reasons underlying one's actions.

Your opinions NEED to be challenged, because Truth is made up of one's perspective and I have watched truths mutate into other things that fall between what is true and what is not. The weakest trait one can have is defensiveness, because not only does it weaken any argument you have, but it also eliminates any opportunity for growth. Life is a journey that is worthless without growth, and humility is a necessary suffering in order to achieve it.


"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
—Romans 5:3-5


This blog is to discuss those inflammatory issues that I'm so attracted to and other international issues, specifically economic development since this is the field I want to get into. I want people to comment with their opinions. I sincerely hope to get contradicting points of view. However, I demand respect for everyone and will not tolerate insults or ridiculous assumptions without evidence that you see all too often on other blog/article sites. This is a dialogue, not an inflamed quarrel. So make a valid argument, correct me, correct other comments, but please maintain respect for differing opinions.

Finally, there will be no pattern to my posts and will most likely appear random and unpredictable. I apologize to you creatures of habit in advance, but that is just the nature of my thoughts. :)