Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiSlave Labor, Poisoned Toys Give Global Capitalism a Black Eye
A few years ago the anti-globalization movement seemed, to much of mainstream America, a fringe concern. Capitalism and free trade are, after all, our national religion. The protesters who disrupted global trade summits in Seattle and Washington, DC, had little sympathy from outlet shoppers jamming big box stores in Middle America. But things have changed. Wal-Mart stories featuring abusive labor practices shone a spotlight on the down side of low prices. And, more recently, the spate of reports about the poison fruits of free trade with China have hit American consumers in the gut.
"In order to achieve modernization, people will go to any ends to earn money, to advance their interest, leaving behind morality, humanity and even a little bit of compassion, let alone the law or regulations," economic professor Hu Jindou says in an article on Chinese child slavery in the June 21 edition of the New York Times. The article concerns the hundreds of people, including pre-teen children, found to be working as slaves at a brick-making factory in Shanxi Province. Children are routinely pressed into service in China's toy factories. "Work-study" programs ship schoolchildren from poor provinces to factories where they are worked from early morning until late at night without pay.
And then there are the poisonous products--the killer toothpaste containing diethylene glycol found at a Dollar Store in Miami. The questionably "organic" herbs and food products. William Hubbard, the former deputy commissioner of the FDA who now runs an organization called Coalition for a Stronger FDA told NPR about the Chinese food shipments FDA officials turn back at ports after labeling them as "filthy"--that's the term of art for smelly, decomposing, chemical-laden and otherwise obviously unfit food. On NPR, Hubbard described how an inspector found an herbal tea factory where herbal tea was processed by driving trucks over it: "'To speed up the drying process, they would lay the tea leaves out on a huge warehouse floor and drive trucks over them so that the exhaust would more rapidly dry the leaves out,' Hubbard says. 'And the problem there is that the Chinese use leaded gasoline, so they were essentially spewing the lead over all these leaves.'"
And, "That lead-contaminated herbal tea would only be caught by FDA inspectors at the border if they knew to look for it, Hubbard says."
As food imports to our country have exploded, with China leading the way, the FDA's food inspection unit is shrinking. Hubbard estimates that 1 percent of food imports are actually inspected by FDA officials. And funding for food inspection has shrunk from half to one-quarter of the agency's budget since he started his career in the 1970s.
Meanwhile, China is cornering the market on many food products.
Lead-contaminated multivitamins from China are part of what NPR terms "the hidden price of cheap goods." And if the FDA is casting a weak net after these poisons, consumers don't have much ability to protect themselves, either. Food manufacturers are not even required to disclose where they get ingredients.
Our political leaders talk a lot about protecting America from terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, we are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of lax regulation and unfettered free trade. We need protection not just from suicide bombers and jihadists, but from business interests willing to push the products of an abused work force and contaminated facilities. The more shocking stories we read about our unsafe food supply, the more mainstream these issues become.
Ruth Conniff covers national politics for The Progressive and is a voice of The Progressive on many TV and radio programs.
© 2007 The Progressive
42 Comments so far
Show AllHow about this: we strive to get rid of that greedy, green-eyed monster within ourselves first, and then start throwing stones or, better yet, just dropping the stones and living responsibly. It's always easier to point the finger at someone else than look in the mirror. For example, stop drowning your children in sugary soft drinks, snacks, and fast food, which are only ruining their health anyway; buy only what you can pay for in FULL when the bill comes due; look for ways to be thrifty that help the environment. Do you REALLY need to drive there? Have a picnic in your backyard! We all need to quit making excuses and blaming the other guy, do we not? Forget the mote and concentrate on the beam! Sermon over (ha, ha).
PDJ: Thank you for the informed explanation and attendant insights. Excellent points!
Capitalism is a manifestation of human greed. Worse yet, people around the world consider it the ultimate form of economic organization. Compounding the problem, most theists don't seem to see any contradiction between their religious values and the reality of corporate capitalism which they support. Unfortunately, our species is not only greedy, we are ignorant and delusional as well.
The fact that some people see the contradiction and are generous doesn't matter much, in a democratic world the majority prevails. The the combination of capitalism and democracy may be our downfall. Maybe we should turn our governance over to Artificial Intelligence. It would be tough to screw it up as much as we've done.
Conservatives have a tiger by the tail.
Actually, Mr. Bramscer, there are plenty of people in my town who are surviving on mid-to-upper range of earnings you quoted. Some, like our local anarchists, are even doing it voluntarily.
"Most of what is produced in China is produced by and for US based multinationals."
Actually, it a bit more complicated than that. When a firm or individual wants to put a product on the market, they will go to web sites like alibaba.com, where an enormous variety of wholesale goods are offered made by private firms that are Chinese owned and operated. The products are often generic copycats - all the retailer, or pseudo-manufacturer has to do is put a label with their logo on them. Some are good quality, genuinely ISO certified UL and CE approved, etc, but many Chinese goods incredibly shoddy, adulterated, and are fraudulently ISO certified while the government practically encourages them, That death sentence to their food regulation head being largely a macabre show.
So, I put most of the blame on the Chinese - they are "joining" Capitalism just as it is entering a particularly nasty, unregulated, rogue phase. With their power and influence, they could have taken the high road to liberal socialism, but instead are taking the lowest road they can find. They are a model state for the practice of capitalism, which looks an awful lot like fascism.
Regarding the tea mentioned in the article, I remember that tests of chocolate, in the U.S., contained lead too. Perhaps the cocoa is processed in the same manner before it enters the U.S.
Remember your history? Remember the usage of child labor in Britain and the U.S.? I'd bet some were even slaves--er, oh, I mean "endentured servants."
Jaded: Hard to say what industrialization has done for poor people, certainly a mixed bag. Though if I were Chinese I'd rather be working 12 hour shifts outdoors in a vegetable farm in a pre-industrial era without pollution or noise -- than locked inside a dangerous sweatshop like an animal.
As for starvation, there have been droughts and blights over the centuries but human populations typically achieve carrying capacity levels. We can probably attribute the majority of starvations to political turmoil, warlords, displacement of peoples and the hoarding of resources. Basically proto-capitalism. Those who claim more than what they need, and thereby denying it from those who need it for bare subsistence.
So when I see a poor farmer in a third world street selling a blanket full of vegetables I don't necessarily see him as poor in every way. If you tried doing that here, you might make $10-50/day? Far too little to even pay rent -- you'd be homeless, unable to afford anything really. Who's rich? Who's poor? We're lifelong slaves to real estate and automobiles here.
Why are we even importing such items as toothpaste and food?????? But, I know. We have a government made up of businessmen who are looking out for big business interests. They don't take a leak without big business telling them it's time. They have moved every conceivable business out of the US for larger and larger profits. While George Bush has shrunk the budgets of departments like FDA to pay for his Iraq invasion. After all these people do not perform essential services like make another bomb, tank or hired mercenaries. He has deliberately put this country at risk by effectively reducing budgets of essential services like fire and police to continue on with his war of choice! I would rather vote for a professional politican when I go to the polls than I would a businessman! There is less of a likelihood of getting screwed. All they are interested in is raping the American consumer some more for money. I have grown to dispise the average big business tycoon in this country!
Paul Bramscher, by better off, I mean they are not starving in the streets and have access to education and healtcare. As for your assertions about freedom, capitalism and modernization -- we are in agreement.
please people learn the diffrence between want and need
Jaded: Oh, I don't know. The Chinese have issues with Tibet, Tianamen, and Taiwan. Let's call it the three-T's.
As for them being "better off", we better step back a minute and define what that means. As a college-educated and struggling X-Gen who deals with traffic on a daily work commute, and 40 hours/week jailed in a cubicle, I'd define "better off" to indicate spare time, ability to start your own business and still afford rent/mortgage, work a primary sector job and not be homeless, etc. I'm not sure capitalism and modernization is all its cracked up to be, despite the toys we surround ourselves with.
To lunafish - Thank you for your comments. I agree that our country has done some gosh-awful things, as have powerful and/or corrupt countries everywhere throughout history. Still, I don't think you can argue that America has not been a magnet for people seeking freedom and opportunity for most of its history. Of course, the "decider-in-chief" has changed all of that, and many people seeking freedom and opportunity are now looking elsewhere. But America can't take all of the credit for all of the bad things that are happening in the world. There are corrupt leaders and countries everywhere. There are also countries that manage to do just fine, with or without America's "help".
But did you read the rest of my little rant? Didn't I say, essentially, that we should "need less", amoung other things? I may be a little prouder of America than you are, and hope that it can turn itself around and become a force for good in the world, but I doubt there is much of an "argument" here between us.
One further thing to consider: some tea leaves may contain high levels of fluorine (and also aluminum) compounds, which are absorbed from the environment; this is something that isn't good for the brain or other body systems. Old, mature leaves used for poor-quality teas have more fluorine and younger leaves (and green tea) have less.
http://www.greenteahaus.com/group-r.htm
Tea, I suppose, like so many other things in life, has both good and bad aspects.
Thank you for sharing that article, dcbeltway. One would think that we could trust our government's agencies to test these products and ensure that they're free of these toxins but one solution might be to buy tea that is certified organic. It is available now, even gunpowder--just do a search and you'll find several kinds. Whether the certifiers (all in China) can be trusted is another question!
My husband and I have been drinking Chinese Gunpowder Brand Green Tea almost every night for years. Just did some research after reading this commondreams article and now I am very afraid of the toxins in our tea! We have been drinking tea to avoid things like sodas and other drinks containing high fructose corn syrup and other sugars and here we were thinking we were drinking a healthy alternative. Dammit!
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/24/19/whittelsey2419.html
Remember whan all Japan and Korea had to sell was cheap labor? Now they make more than our workers do.
To capt.clevariant:
No matter that for the last couple hundred years, it seems like almost everyone has been trying thier best to get here, to become part of our "system", to get a piece of the American Dream. Now, apparently, that dream has become the source of all evil. Now that more and more countries, once poor and oppressed, are dragging themselves out of poverty copying our system, we are blamed again for giving them the ideas that make them successful. Capitalism is winning the day almost everywhere. Almost everyone wants what we have, or something like it, and who can blame them.
Ummm... The US of A has one of the most powerful PR/ propaganda networks that ever existed on the planet and has had this network in place since day one.
Most of these so-called poor and oppressed countries are so due to our efforts... you know, robbing them of their natural resources because we insist that THEY don't know what to do with them. So we tell them we know better, you know, like the Native Peoples of this continent for instance, and that they can be "saved" from not being like us if they just give up the goods and we will... ahem, "help" them "progress". Just look at all the strife in Africa over who gets the spoils of Ga$ and crude oil profits that is shipped here for us. What did we give them in return? Try disease, starvation and US placed dictators to ensure that they don't change their minds.
I'm really not buying your argument.
I have two words that I offer to the victimhood society of Amerika: NEED LESS.
To JBPM:
"Why condemn the middleman without condemning the ones who actually commit the crimes?
Why must it be one or the other? Why can't we critique both? I don't trust facile dichotomies."
It's fine to critique both. But, as you see by most of the posts here, what it comes down to is that the posters believe that all the faults are America's, while the faults of the Chinese are really OURS as well...
This whole issue just makes my gut churn -- literally. Canada has just lowered its pesticide standards to "harmonize" with those in the US. You might wanna ask why Americans can't raise their pesticide standards to "harmonize" them with Canada's.
More breast-beating, sackcloth and ashes, rending of garments, self-flagelation and ranting about what America has done and is doing to the world. We are, apparantly, indeed the great satan. No matter that for the last couple hundred years, it seems like almost everyone has been trying thier best to get here, to become part of our "system", to get a piece of the American Dream. Now, apparently, that dream has become the source of all evil. Now that more and more countries, once poor and oppressed, are dragging themselves out of poverty copying our system, we are blamed again for giving them the ideas that make them successful. Capitalism is winning the day almost everywhere. Almost everyone wants what we have, or something like it, and who can blame them.
The real problem is that America and Americans are beginning to feel the pinch of real competition from round the world. We look around and we discover that we are no longer the most prosperous (on average) nation in the world, that our standard of living is not as good as some other countries, and that the benefits we are provided by our government to secure the welfare of the people are not as good as those provided by some other governments in countries we have always considered small, insignificant, poor, and unenlightened. This comes as news to some people I talk to. Somehow, we still buy the notion that America is "No. 1" in all of those areas. It's just not true anymore.
Big business is the devil himself, I agree. But as has been noted, capitalism is all about maximizing profits and eliminating competition, and in a world economy, we have to expect that all resources, including labor, will be obtained from wherever it is most efficient for business to get them. We could demand that our government set up tariffs and trade barriers and hurdles for foriegn competitors that would help to keep the jobs here, but this would undoubtably cause competing countries to do the same to us. The result would probably be higher prices for consumers, off-setting many of the gains we might realize by protecting our labor, and empoverishment for those budding economies in third world countries who are just beginning to prosper, eliminating hope and causing the kind of frustration that can lead to conflict. There is no easy answer to this problem.
We do have another option that can address many of the concerns we have on several current issues, including the issues raised in this article. Instead of raving on about what the government has done and should be doing (always a futile exercise), we can, as individuals, choose to buy locally produced products, or at least only buy products grown, processed and/or manufactured in the U.S., and offset the higher prices of such products by consuming less. This is my personal strategy, and as I see it, this has a lot of potentially beneficial outcomes if it becomes more popular. We wouldn't have to worry about being held hostage by some other country for our consumables, because almost everything we need could all be made here, making good, secure jobs for Americans. By buying locally grown and manufactured products, using small, local producers as much as possible, we can put a stick in the eye of big business and force them to go manipulate other people to achieve thier insane profit margins. More than likely, the quality of the products we purchase will be higher, and we know who to go see if they are not. We also reduce carbon emissions by reducing the distance goods must travel to get to us. We won't have to worry as much about the potential for contamination of our foods and other consumables if we are buying them locally, from our friends and neighbors, although of course standards to protect us still need to be set and enforced.
By buying and consuming less, we again reduce carbon and waste, and stop the insane rush to always have more, more, more of things we don't really need. Instead, we can spend our extra dollars to improve the quality of our lives, again as much as possible using local resources for recreation, education, arts and entertainment. Wouldn't it be great if we worked as hard at developing the inner self as we do collecting huge amounts of junk we don't need.
Its time to stop whining and start acting. Washington doesn't give a rip - they know they can fool most of the people most of the time. But if we started changing the way we live, in defiance of those who manipulate us for their own gain, we can change our country.
"Problem is the Capitalists are just doing what Capitalists do - buy at the lowest price for resale."
Right. Which is why so many of the commentators here are critical of capitalism. If that is what they do, and hang all other considerations, then maybe we need to reassess capitalism.
"Seems to me that the people who ought to be castigated are the Chinese. They're the ones who condone the enslavement of their own people, the lack of environmental standards, the lack of fair labor rules."
The US used to castigate the Chinese government, but then under President Clinton we granted them Most Favored Nation trade status, in spite of their documented human rights abuses, environmental abuses, etc. The rationale behind this turn of events was the standard Republicrat party line that only through bringing the Chinese free markets would we bring them democracy. Uh-huh. In the last 15 years, instead of China becoming more of an open society, the US has become more of a closed society. In the last 15 years, American workers have watched their jobs move to China while American CEOs have made beaucoup profits. "Coincidences" abound!
"Why condemn the middleman without condemning the ones who actually commit the crimes?"
Why must it be one or the other? Why can't we critique both? I don't trust facile dichotomies.
Most of what is produced in China is produced by and for US based multinationals. China is a developing nation though it is outpacing the rest of the planet in economic growth and paying a heavy price. Most Chinese are better off than they have been in their long history though that isn't saying much.
We in the US are not in any position to criticize China while our own nation's human rights and democracy are under attack and our country engages in illegal mass murder, torture, asassinations, and support of dictaroships around the world.
It is a pretty shallow outlook to equate criticism of the soulless actions of todays oligarchs with endorsement of Mao's communist China.
Someone else said it here. Capitalism is in the process of perfecting itself as a predatory system. Worse yet, it is self-devouring. Watch the news about mergers, buy-outs and reorganizations and you'll see a constant shuffling of ownership to consolidate wealth in fewer and fewer hands. And as this process deepens the powerful at the top suck the life out of their acquisitions and toss them aside.
It is hard to escape the feeling that the whole thing might just fall over. Yes, China is full steam ahead creating a modern capitalist country, where you can't walk the metropolitan streets without a gas mask. Way to go China. No regulations, no rights, no committment to the commons - an investment capitalist's dream.
By the way, how many of us today lodged a complaint with Google for their part enabling information suppression and citizen survellience by the Chinese government? Remember when the gurus of Google told us all that their primary philosophy was "first, do no harm" ? Looks like everybody has their price.
Also coming out of China are nasty insects that have no predators here in America--"stinkbugs" that here in Pennsylvania, are found year around; and the Asian horned beetle that is eating trees to death. These two pests and others have hitched rides on the wood packed around all those life-killing products that are being shipped out from China.
Whenever the media reports on another product recall, I think "Bet it's China". With few exceptions, it is.
Those Anti-Global Activist were trying to tell all of us something...
Just like our political, especially foreign, policy provokes more extremists so too does our economic policy contribute to slavery all over the world. But globalization is also hurting the American middle class. People in developing countries are now resources, like oil or wood, to be used by international corporations. The cost of labor is considered right next to cost of material. This kind of attitude toward labor encourages the mid-level managers to resort to anything to reduce the cost of labor. You see the results worldwide, not just in China. The sad part is that the American middle class is also a victim of its own government's policy, but doesn't even know it. Most American workers now compete internationally for wages and benefits. Doctors and lawyers have some government protection as these guys and gals are the last buffer between the people and the government. H1B work visas are essentially work contracts. Contracts for work that businesses say they can't fill with domestic workers. Nurses from the Philippines and high-tech workers from India, and others in the hundreds of thousands, have been given jobs in our hospitals and businesses because they will work for less salary and fewer benefits. The impact on American labor is incredible. But even more incredible is that it's also invisible.
Hoa binh
one more thing: don't FUCK with america's pet food and toys. you'll have the whole country whining.
i think china is america's wet dream, what most american politicians and every CEO wishes the US was. check out that article Jaded Prole linked in the first post on this page. then think think of that for a billion plus people and you've got china. a few people getting filthy rich, some people doing well, the vast majority practically enslaved.
I want to thank both kivals and mopy. As I read more and more comments I was waiting for someone to mention that U.S. corporations put an end to some reforms proposed by the Chinese.
To Powerslave:
Umm, uhh, dude, I said 'rediscovered'. I never said discovered. Selfishness and greed have always been there manifesting itself in it's various forms. And, oh yes, I have had conversations with Chinese who said that people were 'much nicer in the old days', despite all their problems! I will say it again, China has become capitalistic as the capitalistic west wanted so what's all the fuss...?
To Kivals:
Absolutely correct! The Chinese did try to introduce measures to curb excesses. But the mighty US corporations would have none of it. Talk about apportioning blame!
Also people must remember that the Chinese government recently proposed sweeping labor reforms with labor protections, but the US corporations investing in China quickly stepped in and threatened to move all their factories out if China tried to protect Chinese labor. And so the Chinese have significantly watered down the proposed labor laws to keep the American corporations happy.
I hate to say it, but US corporations remain the greatest evil on the planet, poisoning everything they touch. Yes, they create wealth quickly and easily, but it is poisoned wealth, that is unsustainable over the long term and that tends to destroy a society from within.
A mopy, how you must miss the old days, before the Chinese discovered "selfishness and greed". Famines, "re-education" camps, tens of millions dead, Mao's Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, ZERO freedom. It was paradise, almost as good as the wonderful old Soviet Union.
to Aardvark:
So where was the last time you checked to see that China's a 'communist' country?
The last time I checked, last year, I discovered that it was very 'capitalistic'! Ask any vendor on the street selling home-cooked food, or handmade souvenirs. And the 'capitalism' didn't stop there. It extended to the many restaurants and businesses privately owned. Capitalism, pure and simple.
Blame/credit Deng Xiao Peng for that. He said that he didn't care if the 'cat is white or black as long as it catches mice'. The Chinese have taken that to heart and have 're-discovered' en masse their 'selfishness and greed.' And these are the cornerstones of rampant 'capitalism'! And in this new atmosphere western businesses have rushed in to exploit it to their benefit. The latest scandal with the enslaved kiln workers clearly exemplify that capitalism gone mad. Some of those kiln bosses might be 'communist' but in name only. They manifest a human evil common to all of us and on which capitalism thrives best.
Having said that, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I mean the powers-that-be in the west have always wanted China to go capitalist. And she has! In a big way! What's all the fuss...?
It would be all very well and good to tell China how to behave... Maybe we could go in there and turn them into proper capitalists with a proper democracy, just as we're doing elsewhere. Oh, that's right - they'd steamroll us. We only pick on little guys.
I don't see that we need to change the culture, government or socio-political structure of other countries, I see that we need to lead by example. In this situation, we're not the 'middleman,' we're the direct accomplice. If we didn't open the door for such practices, then look away when they occurred - if we were RESPONSIBLE capitalists - then our kids might not get a mouthful of lead. Is the solution, then, to impose some kind of penalty on China for human rights violations while we merrily go about our business whether or not they comply?
Yeah, well the Chinese have a billion plus people to feed. And guess what, they're doing doing a pretty good job! Massive economic growth, massive improvement in standard of living. Not bad for a communist country (btw, free health care).
Not everyone is benefiting, but most Chinese are better off. The environment is suffering. Labor rules are lax. Product liability protection is lax.
As Ruth says, the U.S. government should protect the U.S. population - that's their job.
Problem is the Capitalists are just doing what Capitalists do - buy at the lowest price for resale. Seems to me that the people who ought to be castigated are the Chinese. They're the ones who condone the enslavement of their own people, the lack of environmental standards, the lack of fair labor rules. Why condemn the middleman without condemning the ones who actually commit the crimes?
For more on Wal-Mart and sweatshops in China, check out this report: http://www.laborrights.org/projects/corporate/walmart/China%20Walmart%20Report102506.pdf
You can also check out: http://www.laborrights.org/projects/corporate/walmart/index.html
More goodies from China -- Check out this:
Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Toys Recalled
Chinese Manufacturer Used Lead Paint on 1.5 Million Toys, as Nation's Recall Rate Troubles Safety Experts
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3275264&page=1
You know very well which capitalists are being discussed. The condoning of this in China, Thailand, Mexico - anywhere there's cheap labor that doesn't have too much need for oversight - rests correctly on the heads of Corporate America. Tags might as well read CAVEAT EMPTOR: MADE IN CHINA except that would just confuse dumb ol' Americans...
Hmm... seems that the country that has the slave labor, and that is producing tainted goods is CHINA.
Last time I checked, they weren't a capitalist country.
There is no limit on what capitalists will do for profit. They will murder, lie steal, foment war, orchestrate coups, and undermine labor at every opportunity. Here in the US where more citizens per capita are imprisoned, prison labor is a growing phenomonon. We are all slaves and migrant workers in Plantation America whose fields encompass the entire globe. We will remain so ntil we collectively decide to emancipate ourselves and move the Cannibalist system to its proper place in the dustbin of history.
"How about this: we strive to get rid of that greedy, green-eyed monster within ourselves first, and then start throwing stones or, better yet, just dropping the stones and living responsibly."
I liked your sermon very much chessgames56, but again, I ask, why the false dichotomy? Why can't we work on being the change we want to see in the world AND keep throwing stones at the people who want to enslave us? The guy who mentioned the mote and beam also pulled off his belt in anger to chase some mote-eyed folks out of a temple, if I recall correctly. Sadly, there are many folks in this world who deserve blame and need to be responded to accordingly.
Maybe we need to call these issues like we see them, work for structural and systemic changes in every way we can, AND simplify our own lives.