Retribution not enough

[Tim May]

On Saturday, October 20, 2001, at 01:17 PM, Steve Schear wrote:

> At 01:42 PM 10/20/2001 -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>> On Fri, Oct 19, 2001 at 05:35:53PM -0700, Steve Schear wrote:
>> > The direction of all recent administrations has been to expand
>> > globalization (i.e., interdependency) thus increasing economic risks 
>> and
>> > narrowing diplomatic choices.  In the short term, and we have no 
>> idea what
>>
>> When I speak of globalization, I mean removing barriers imposed by 
>> government
>> to voluntary exchanges between consenting people. Sounds good to me.
>
> Unfortunately, many citizens in the developing world are not party to 
> these "voluntary" exchanges, but are directly affected.  I've read the 
> reports of the many low wage sweat shop jobs, mainly performed by young 
> women, in these countries and that their alternative is worse.  In a 
> way one could portray their situations as dismal but not dire, sort of 
> along the on-screen comments of Arthur to the prostitute is dinning 
> with "... so you might say you're having a relatively good time?"
>
> In the short term economic inequalities and human rights abuses may be 
> exacerbated (e.g., the fate of rural mainland Chinese).  The long-term 
> effects of globalization are as yet unknown.



Talking about "low wage sweat shop jobs" indicates profound confusion on 
your part.

Sorry to be so blunt, but this is the way it is. Henry Hazlitt wrote a 
good book on basic economics.

I doubt I can convince you in a few paragraphs, but consider some 
miscellaneous points, which are all closely related:

* "Low wage" compared to _what_?

* Comparing the wages to U.S. wages is not meaningful, for many reasons.

* To those getting paid $300 an hour, most jobs in the U.S. are "low 
wage sweat shops." Perhaps the U.N. can attempt to force U.S. average 
wages to be raised?

* If the labor is being "exploited" by being paid "too little," this is 
an excellent opportunity for an efficient producer to enter the market 
and offer more. Henry Ford did this with car production early in the 
20th century, Intel is doing it now with factories in Malaysia, Costa 
Rica, and mainlaind China. More "globalization" explotin' da peeples, I 
guess.

--Tim May
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only 
exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from 
the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for 
the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with 
the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy 
always followed by dictatorship." --Alexander Fraser Tyler