Hmm, Where I lived we had no power, phone and the creek
was the closest to running water we had (northland 1984)

I wonder, Is that $1.00 before or after tax?

The other thing I wonder is.. Do these people pay for the
land they are living on?

I know several people in NZ who are earning $6.00 per hour
take the tax out of that, then rates, then gst on what you purchase
and then work out what its going to cost you for a roof over your
head, and thats before food.

Andrew

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim" <jvpoll@DALLAS.NET>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 1:53 PM
Subject: Re: [OT]: $1-a-day wages


> 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" <apptech@PARADISE.NET.NZ>
> To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
> 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
> >
>
> --
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