Minimum wage increased to 11.50

karma_

Tigersliding wrote: »

It has been addressed, I 'll repeat it. Companies have an objective to maximise profit. They pay as little as they can generally speaking for factors of production, otherwise you aren't trying to maximise profit. Shareholders won't
invest their money into companies that gives it's money away. That's the reality. Judging it is fairly pointless really. Thinking of solutions to poverty that deal with reality is what you should be doing.

And this has already been addressed also. This is Business ethics, which you seem to advocate whereas what I and others have been saying is that Human ethical considerations are a higher priority.

To put it simply western business have the means but not the will to pay higher wages, to make a bigger difference. The reality is they can fix poverty faster, but do they want to?

Memnoch

jank wrote: »

I hear that term alot, but what does it actually mean or is it just popped in there to add fire to the argument?

In very succinct terms - Darwinism - survival of the biologically fittest.

Social Darwinism - survival of the economically fittest. I.E. Libertarian economic philosophy. Which could also be described as corporate anarchism.

Valmont

From Paul Krugman himself:

"In 1993, child workers in Bangladesh were found to be producing clothing for Wal-Mart, and Senator Tom Harkin proposed legislation banning imports from countries employing underage workers. The direct result was that Bangladeshi textile factories stopped employing children. But did the children go back to school? Did they return to happy homes? Not according to Oxfam, which found that the displaced child workers ended up in even worse jobs, or on the streets -- and that a significant number were forced into prostitution."

Memnoch

Valmont wrote: »

From Paul Krugman himself:

"In 1993, child workers in Bangladesh were found to be producing clothing for Wal-Mart, and Senator Tom Harkin proposed legislation banning imports from countries employing underage workers. The direct result was that Bangladeshi textile factories stopped employing children. But did the children go back to school? Did they return to happy homes? Not according to Oxfam, which found that the displaced child workers ended up in even worse jobs, or on the streets -- and that a significant number were forced into prostitution."

Further false dichotomy.

I love the libertarian translation - We need child labour to protect children from child prostitution.


I wonder why libertarians never propose this as a solution for combatting child exploitation in wealthy western countries?

Because those are the only two options.

How about requiring any company that sells products in western countries to pay a decent living wage to its workers wherever they are based so that they can look after their family, live a decent, dignified life and send their children to school?

They will still have cheaper labour... but then a company might only make say 200 million euro in profit instead of 250 million.

Child labour is a much better solution of course!

KomradeBishop

Permabear wrote: »

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Companies would do that, because customers and nations importing goods from those companies, would pressure them into doing that - so that working conditions better match the ethical standards of these importing countries.

Otherwise those customers/countries are displaying hypocrisy/double-standards - exactly like you pointed out: People complaining about this while being happy to buy the latest iPhone and such...

Posters defending developing-world conditions, have already ceded that doing this is perfectly practical - which only leaves moral arguments left as to why it shouldn't be done (and none of those moral arguments really make a good case).

jank

Memnoch wrote: »

In very succinct terms - Darwinism - survival of the biologically fittest.

Social Darwinism - survival of the economically fittest. I.E. Libertarian economic philosophy. Which could also be described as corporate anarchism.

That is your definition and opinion of it. Oh, of course you had to throw in the ol anarchism schism there too.

Permabear

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Permabear

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steddyeddy

There are schools in places like Africa. They just need funding.

karma_

Permabear wrote: »

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You are still not addressing the main point that is being driven at here. Why not?

steddyeddy

Tigersliding wrote: »

The reason they exist was the point.

The reason they exist is that companies (and governments of said countries) exploit the fact that these children and families have very little hope in life. A lot of schools in Africa require donations from parents to exist and often the parents will go hungry to send that child to school. These sweatshops take advantage of orphans and other less fortunate (in Africa there's a lot of them) and they're shipped from orphanages or off the streets to a life of intimidation, sometimes sexual or physical violence and no hope of progression. You can't know these facts and be supportive of this. Live in Africa for a while and learn of a world independent of figures and statistics.

Permabear

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karma_

Permabear wrote: »

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So you are using the fact that there are no schools, or there are very poor schools to bolster an argument for not paying them more?

That's a pretty poor argument.

Would you not agree if there was less poverty in the first place then schools would develop and improve by the same standard?

steddyeddy

Forgetting the pay for a minute the least these companies can do is make sure that young girls and boys are not exposed to sexual or physical violence.

Permabear

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KomradeBishop

Permabear wrote: »

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Except one does not logically follow from the other - that's an assumption about peoples views, which doesn't have evidence backing it; buying a product, does not equate to holding those views.

Boycott's are also notoriously ineffective - there are far better alternatives, like making companies legally responsible/accountable for the welfare of the workers that make their products (paying for bringing their working standards up to scratch) - one example being:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accord_on_Fire_and_Building_Safety_in_Bangladesh

There are also other measures such as 'Jobbers Agreements', where the company selling in the importing country, agrees to only hire developing world workers (including subcontractors and their workers) that are unionized, so that they can protect themselves from exploitation, by using collective bargaining.

The latter in particular, helped end sweatshops in the now-developed world, in the early 1900's.

Permabear

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KomradeBishop

The countries they import to.

karma_

Permabear wrote: »

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You have said nothing new here.

Let's accept that life is better with sweatshops, it's marginally better, life is still absolutely shít and filled with misery and abject poverty but OK it's just a smidgen better than what it was... still though kids have to work long hours in dangerous conditions, is that not too high a price?

What cost profit? Why is paying these people more so ideologically objectionable? We have the means to make the world better for many people but not the will, and I find it incredibly sad that anyone could argue that this human cost in pursuit of profit is acceptable.

And no one from you side of the debate has ever answered why business ethics are favoured over human ethics.

PopePalpatine

Permabear wrote: »

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I don't see anything "socialist" about these companies acting with impunity in these countries, it's more like "corporatist". I'd imagine that if the police were privatised these same companies would be clambering over each other to buy these police forces.

Memnoch

jank wrote: »

That is your definition and opinion of it. Oh, of course you had to throw in the ol anarchism schism there too.

You don't like it, but that is what it is. It is a despicable and ugly ideology whose sole purpose is the advancement of profit and concentration of wealth.

Permabear

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Permabear

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karma_

Permabear wrote: »

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Seriously... You are guilty of all those offences that you have accused others of in this thread.

Also, you are making up phantom arguments to suit your own agenda. No one has argued FOR socialism in this thread and no one has suggested a magic wand fix-it-all, the views expressed don't even call for the major change of capitalism in any way other than to implore it to act in more ethical ways.

Unrestrained greed and exploitation is not the solution, for that is what you are defending, and it insults my intelligence for someone who is arguing for that to call anyone elses point of view Pollyannaish.


Now I understand why you have tied yourself to this mast, for if you budge one inch your whole ideology comes crashing down around you, in fact you are trapped by it.

KomradeBishop

KomradeBishop wrote:

There are also other measures such as 'Jobbers Agreements', where the company selling in the importing country, agrees to only hire developing world workers (including subcontractors and their workers) that are unionized, so that they can protect themselves from exploitation, by using collective bargaining.

The latter in particular, helped end sweatshops in the now-developed world, in the early 1900's.

Bit disappointed there's been no rebuttal to this really - was looking forward to someone trying the "but the workers/unions will start exploiting the businesses that are exploiting them" argument.

In any case, along with other proposals, this is a perfectly good/pragmatic/practical means of getting companies to improve conditions/pay.

Iwasfrozen

Permabear wrote: »

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I think he means making them legally responsible in Ireland for their actions abroad. Not sure how that would work when the work abroad is contracted though.

Permabear

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KomradeBishop

Permabear wrote: »

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Haha - so nothing other than moral "it doesn't fit my ideologies moral framework" objections left I see.

jank

Memnoch wrote: »

You don't like it, but that is what it is. It is a despicable and ugly ideology whose sole purpose is the advancement of profit and concentration of wealth.

Oh yes we are all despicable people for wanting to improve the lives of billions through the advancement capitalism and free markets across the developing world. The word social Darwinist is just used as an ad hominem nothing more, nothing less.

jank

karma_ wrote: »

Unrestrained greed and exploitation is not the solution, for that is what you are defending, and it insults my intelligence for someone who is arguing for that to call anyone elses point of view Pollyannaish.

So what is the solution. It has been demonstrated in this thread countless times how capitalism and by that extension sweatshop aids a countries economic development long term. Nobody has even argued the basic primary point regarding this. Instead people focus on purely ethical and moral arguments.
People object to the reality of this even though no practical workable solution is given. The only argument given is sweatshops with bells and whistles that pay more. An ever lasting open argument.