How far back does your historical perspective go back Russel? 5 years? 10 years? Have people in your country always had running water, sewage systems and electricity? At what point in your country did the labor movement achieve some gains on behalf or the workers in the sweatshops there? Do you know who it was (what company) and in what era the forty hour work week was established in the USA? Can you go back 100 years in your historical perspective? Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Russell McMahon" To: Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 8:25 PM Subject: Re: [OT]: $1-a-day wages > Jim said > > > Beware that which *sounds* too good to be true! > > OK. We agree. This piece of good advice (which I agree with) is trotted out > often, usually soon after people have been badly burned by not thinking of > it beforehand. Let's see if / how it applies to the current argument. > > - Will work for (far far less than) food. > > - Will work twice as many hours a week as "our" workers for the above income > > - Don't expect and / or can't afford health care we would expect as normal > and/or essential. Will tolerate disease rates and mortality levels far > beyond what "we" will. > > - Can be replaced from an endless labour pool waiting to take their jobs so > that "supply and demand" pressures do not drive up wages in the short to > medium term. > > - Children of almost any age who can do a useful job will be employed to do > a useful job (and paid proportionately). > > - Will happily and indefinitely churn out quality products for our use at a > very very very small fraction of the cost that we would do it for (in real > or absolute terms). > > Too good to be true? > > If not, then please send me your children asap - do I have a job for them! > Hey, at these rates I'll even pay the airfare (1 way)(special conditions > apply). > You can come too of course (is $NZ1 a day OK - we're poorer over here :-) ) > > Socialist utopia pie in the sky give-them-US-rates-and-conditions-right-now > is obviously unrealistic and unachievable. But what is done now which is > largely driven by what-the-market-will-(for now)-bear is also unrealistic. > There obviously has to be a balance and this is not it. Only those who have > no maker to stand before and no other belief in their obligation to > equitable treatment of their fellow man should sleep easy. > > An independent late breaking thought. If we drew a chart with a continuum > between the typical western standard of living and that of the salve labour > workers "employed" by the Nazis in WW2 to produce eg V2 rockets, where on > the chart would you plot the conditions in various "3rd world" countries who > supply Western markets. Would be interesting to do. > > > > Russell McMahon > -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body