Major clothing companies typically set up their factories in 3rd world countries such as Cambodia, Honduras, and Bangladesh, where they can have the cheapest production possible. The people's working conditions in these factories are terrible and very dangerous, and they are extremely underpaid. The reason that the wages for these workers remain at such a low number is that the price of labor is determined by supply and demand. I read a book last year called Where am I Wearing and it was all about globalization and the issues along with it in poor countries. According to the book, a whopping 97% of clothes in the U.S. are imported from countries around the world. This being said, the people who make our clothes would not have a job. Businesses in the garment industry make, buy, and sell goods. Low-paid factory workers create these clothes. The next time you put a shirt on, take a second to look at the label and see where your shirt was made (I am willing to bet it was not made in the U.S.) and think about how you buying a shirt, weather it was because of its look or simply because it was the cheapest, made an impact on what factories remain in business because of purchases you and the rest of America make everyday.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Capital Production and Globalization
Karl Marx is known for his views on Communism; In addition, he is very against Capitalism. One of the biggest problems under capitalism is there are only two classes, Bourgeoise (owners of the means of production) and Proletariat (workers and producers). I think that globalization of clothing is a good example of capital production, where the proletariats do all of the hard work and the bourgeoise receive all of the profit with no mutual benefits.
Major clothing companies typically set up their factories in 3rd world countries such as Cambodia, Honduras, and Bangladesh, where they can have the cheapest production possible. The people's working conditions in these factories are terrible and very dangerous, and they are extremely underpaid. The reason that the wages for these workers remain at such a low number is that the price of labor is determined by supply and demand. I read a book last year called Where am I Wearing and it was all about globalization and the issues along with it in poor countries. According to the book, a whopping 97% of clothes in the U.S. are imported from countries around the world. This being said, the people who make our clothes would not have a job. Businesses in the garment industry make, buy, and sell goods. Low-paid factory workers create these clothes. The next time you put a shirt on, take a second to look at the label and see where your shirt was made (I am willing to bet it was not made in the U.S.) and think about how you buying a shirt, weather it was because of its look or simply because it was the cheapest, made an impact on what factories remain in business because of purchases you and the rest of America make everyday.
Major clothing companies typically set up their factories in 3rd world countries such as Cambodia, Honduras, and Bangladesh, where they can have the cheapest production possible. The people's working conditions in these factories are terrible and very dangerous, and they are extremely underpaid. The reason that the wages for these workers remain at such a low number is that the price of labor is determined by supply and demand. I read a book last year called Where am I Wearing and it was all about globalization and the issues along with it in poor countries. According to the book, a whopping 97% of clothes in the U.S. are imported from countries around the world. This being said, the people who make our clothes would not have a job. Businesses in the garment industry make, buy, and sell goods. Low-paid factory workers create these clothes. The next time you put a shirt on, take a second to look at the label and see where your shirt was made (I am willing to bet it was not made in the U.S.) and think about how you buying a shirt, weather it was because of its look or simply because it was the cheapest, made an impact on what factories remain in business because of purchases you and the rest of America make everyday.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also had to read that book last year, and I found it extremely interesting. I feel like most people will, at some point, wonder about those that made the clothes they wear, but this curiosity is usually fleeting. They do not put in the effort to find out about the conditions of the factories where our clothes are being made. I agree with you, hearing about the conditions in those factories really make you think twice about what you buy. The first thought most have is to boycott the line of clothing that employs the factories with horrible conditions, but, as the author says, if we did that, then the factory would close and the people would be without a job--even worse off than they already are. Though, I do agree wholeheartedly that these conditions need to change, and we as Americans, who buy the products made there, need to do something about it. However, I do not think these conditions are a result of capitalism alone. I believe capitalism can still exist where people are all treated fairly and not overworked and underpaid. I also believe that these injustices can easily happen under other economic systems as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the conditions of the factories that many people work in to create the clothing that people wear is less than ideal. It really would make a person consider the circumstances from which there clothes came from. However, I would have to agree with what Sheridan said. I do not thing that it is the fault of capitalism alone and that these conditions can occur under any other system. But that does not mean we should simply accept things as they are. People do need to try to make a difference.
ReplyDelete