350 Killed in Garment Building Collapse

2»

Comments

  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,072
    Some great questions posted. In reality, what we see in these countries is not different from what occurred in other countries as manufacturing developed.

    I need more time to think about this. ;)
    hippiemom = goodness
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    Some great questions posted. In reality, what we see in these countries is not different from what occurred in other countries as manufacturing developed.

    I need more time to think about this. ;)

    That's true. In fact, workers in manufacturing here in the U.S. in the 19th century were stuck with horrible working conditions. Unfortunately, the story mostly ends thus far with our outsourcing of manufacturing to countries that allow the same kind of horrible conditions we did 150 years ago.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,121
    Even if the US and other "1st world" countries made their garments locally and refused to import, these shops would still exist.

    Sad.
  • chadwickchadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    being in a high dollar hotel (in another country mind you) being catered to like kings & queens when surrounded by poor would make me feel uncomfortable as well. sure i'd like the hotel. in reality the true self of that area is not a luxurious sprawling hotel but the naturalness of it. whatever that means... :lol:

    take me to the jungle huts & a marijuana salesman on the beach under a few palms. to much being catered too makes me feel like a flaming little prancing around chadwick in a pink tutu.

    I've never had this kind of money & it seems wonderful but actually is scary truthfully
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • chadwickchadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    i've just watched 1/2 of a short video on the torture of Bangladesh women. wtf

    :evil: where's seal team 6 these days? :twisted:
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,121
    They caught the fugitive owner. The local politician is still on the run.
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    the notion that without these corporations provide jobs is the same as industrial farming provides food ... it's simply a rationalization so that when people go to walmart and buy shit they don't need - that they feel good about themselves ...

    globalization has killed the local economies in developing countries ... it has straddled these nations with massive debt and all it aims to do is keep these countries at low levels of development so western corporations can continue to exploit whatever it is worth exploiting ... resources and labour ...
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,072
    brianlux wrote:
    Some great questions posted. In reality, what we see in these countries is not different from what occurred in other countries as manufacturing developed.

    I need more time to think about this. ;)

    That's true. In fact, workers in manufacturing here in the U.S. in the 19th century were stuck with horrible working conditions. Unfortunately, the story mostly ends thus far with our outsourcing of manufacturing to countries that allow the same kind of horrible conditions we did 150 years ago.


    Right and in some cases a terrible thing. Did you notice how it mentioned some of these manufacturing plants rent Fire Extinguishers for just the day of inspections? It seems they have quite the way to try and avoid any oversight by the companies outsourcing.

    And in some cases, outsourcing is done only in the short term, until the market is solid and provides enough demand to warrant a company building their own manufacturing plant in the area. But that is hardly the norm.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    polaris_x wrote:
    the notion that without these corporations provide jobs is the same as industrial farming provides food ... it's simply a rationalization so that when people go to walmart and buy shit they don't need - that they feel good about themselves ...

    globalization has killed the local economies in developing countries ... it has straddled these nations with massive debt and all it aims to do is keep these countries at low levels of development so western corporations can continue to exploit whatever it is worth exploiting ... resources and labour ...

    as sad as it may be remember the golden rule.

    wal mart employs more people than any single corp's in the world and they maybe one of the richest corp's in the world and yes they like many other corp's buy their products from around the world
    creating job outside of wal mart, they pay small wages and buy in bulk to cover all their stores so they get a lower price when they buy,this is the intent of most large corpations.

    western corp's...I would agree with you but at the same time I have to stan in aww at the vision these people had and the drive and determination that they had to build their empires, but it's not just western corp's it's world wide,Japan and China have some impresive business's as well not to mention the piece of pie that Canada holds in the business world.

    Godfather.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... le4372876/

    greed and profit know no boundries, but then again these people have vision and drive, they worked for it why would they give it away ?

    Godfather.
  • polaris_x wrote:
    the notion that without these corporations provide jobs is the same as industrial farming provides food ... it's simply a rationalization so that when people go to walmart and buy shit they don't need - that they feel good about themselves ...

    globalization has killed the local economies in developing countries ... it has straddled these nations with massive debt and all it aims to do is keep these countries at low levels of development so western corporations can continue to exploit whatever it is worth exploiting ... resources and labour ...

    Playing Devil's Advocate... explain to me how Bangladesh would look if, for some reason, international laws mandated that companies based in a country must manufacture in the country they are based in?
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    Playing Devil's Advocate... explain to me how Bangladesh would look if, for some reason, international laws mandated that companies based in a country must manufacture in the country they are based in?

    well ... that law makes no sense ... and it's not necessarily the antithesis of globalization ...

    bangladesh must develop its own local economy based on their own standards of living ... iceland has geothermal power but not much else ... it's an island in the atlantic and they pretty much have to import everything ... growing food is hard there ... yet, they have one of the highest standards of living in the world ... bangladesh from what i can gather is moving in that direction but they are relying on foreign investment from greedy corporations to fund that change and growth ... they should be focused on developing a diverse and sustainable economy based on the resources that is available there and establishing trade with surrounding countries (honestly, i don't really know that much of bangladesh) ...

    relying on globalization is false hope .. it only leads to what we see everywhere ... corrupt gov'ts, wealthy corporations and mass exploitation ...
  • polaris_x wrote:
    Playing Devil's Advocate... explain to me how Bangladesh would look if, for some reason, international laws mandated that companies based in a country must manufacture in the country they are based in?

    well ... that law makes no sense ... and it's not necessarily the antithesis of globalization ...

    bangladesh must develop its own local economy based on their own standards of living ... iceland has geothermal power but not much else ... it's an island in the atlantic and they pretty much have to import everything ... growing food is hard there ... yet, they have one of the highest standards of living in the world ... bangladesh from what i can gather is moving in that direction but they are relying on foreign investment from greedy corporations to fund that change and growth ... they should be focused on developing a diverse and sustainable economy based on the resources that is available there and establishing trade with surrounding countries (honestly, i don't really know that much of bangladesh) ...

    relying on globalization is false hope .. it only leads to what we see everywhere ... corrupt gov'ts, wealthy corporations and mass exploitation ...

    Bigger picture thinking and not wrong.

    Problem being, as I may or may not have illustrated well, is that there is a bitter pill to swallow where short term pain will result.

    Do countries such as this have the will to experience this pain for future generation's benefit?
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/11/charit ... arity.html

    New York - Philanthropy was on the rise last year, thanks to increases in earnings in 2003. Since most companies budget their charitable donations on the basis of the previous year's profits, that would seem to bode well for giving this year, too.

    The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which conducts an annual survey of cash and product donations by large U.S. companies, says giving at 100 or so of the largest U.S. companies is expected to increase this year as it did by an average 5% last year.

    But there are lots of ways to look at giving.

    this is interesting.

    Godfather.
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    Bigger picture thinking and not wrong.

    Problem being, as I may or may not have illustrated well, is that there is a bitter pill to swallow where short term pain will result.

    Do countries such as this have the will to experience this pain for future generation's benefit?

    i'm sorry but $1 a day jobs is not short term gain to me ... saying a job is better than no job is based on the belief that if these corporations weren't there that something wouldn't take up that void ... i don't believe that ...

    350 killed in order so we can have clothes for cheap ... like someone mentioned - the consumer is definitely part of the problem ... but still - look at the horror and anger based on 3 deaths a week or so ago ... yet, where is the outrage here? ... just like no one wants to look at themselves to see why someone would want to detonate a bomb in a public event - they don't want to look at themselves as to how they are complicit in the deaths of these people ...
  • polaris_x wrote:
    Bigger picture thinking and not wrong.

    Problem being, as I may or may not have illustrated well, is that there is a bitter pill to swallow where short term pain will result.

    Do countries such as this have the will to experience this pain for future generation's benefit?

    i'm sorry but $1 a day jobs is not short term gain to me ... saying a job is better than no job is based on the belief that if these corporations weren't there that something wouldn't take up that void ... i don't believe that ...

    350 killed in order so we can have clothes for cheap ... like someone mentioned - the consumer is definitely part of the problem ... but still - look at the horror and anger based on 3 deaths a week or so ago ... yet, where is the outrage here? ... just like no one wants to look at themselves to see why someone would want to detonate a bomb in a public event - they don't want to look at themselves as to how they are complicit in the deaths of these people ...

    I never said gain. I said pain.

    If these places pulled up shop and left, what does this look like?

    I have a problem with the situation as well, but I'm not so naive to think the solution is an easy one.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    I never said gain. I said pain.

    If these places pulled up shop and left, what does this look like?

    I have a problem with the situation as well, but I'm not so naive to think the solution is an easy one.

    if they left - something else will take its place ... how did iceland get to have one of the highest standards of living? ... it's not necessarily to say the solution is an easy one but simply the notion that these so called jobs and conditions are necessary ...
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,072
    Might be tough to compare 320,000 people strong Iceland with 150,493,658 people strong Bangladesh.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • mickeyratmickeyrat up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,409
    Saw a pic of a recue worker (without gear) climbing up the collapsed side floor to floor looking for people. One thing that stuck out was there was no rebar or any reinforcement material visible in any of the floors. You could see how thick each was. Looked like just poured concrete.
    _____________________________________SIGNATURE________________________________________________

    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    Might be tough to compare 320,000 people strong Iceland with 150,493,658 people strong Bangladesh.

    for sure there is a lot of factors at play ... but at the end of the day - if gov'ts are going to sell out there people to corporations and western nations - this is the result ... mass poverty and huge prosperity gaps ...
  • mickeyratmickeyrat up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,409
    polaris_x wrote:
    Might be tough to compare 320,000 people strong Iceland with 150,493,658 people strong Bangladesh.

    for sure there is a lot of factors at play ... but at the end of the day - if gov'ts are going to sell out there people to corporations and western nations - this is the result ... mass poverty and huge prosperity gaps ...
    seems this is the result now?


    does anyone here regularly look at the made in label before purchasing? Make the decision to buy based on how well workers are treated in that place? even research to be informed?


    I dont. So events like this , tragic as they surely are, get me to thinking about my actions.

    Shit I deliver clothes to one of these retailers. My first thought on finding that out? "I hope they can survive this so I can stay on this account."
    _____________________________________SIGNATURE________________________________________________

    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    mickeyrat wrote:
    seems this is the result now?

    does anyone here regularly look at the made in label before purchasing? Make the decision to buy based on how well workers are treated in that place? even research to be informed?

    I dont. So events like this , tragic as they surely are, get me to thinking about my actions.

    Shit I deliver clothes to one of these retailers. My first thought on finding that out? "I hope they can survive this so I can stay on this account."

    your only leverage in this world is your choices as a consumer ... i get the majority of my clothes either through second hand stores or retailers that i know have strong CSR ... i try to apply that to as much of everything i spend money on as possible ... it's obviously not easy ... but if everyone did it - we could make a difference ...

    the root of this problem is that ultimately, we operate on false myths ... fed to us by the people who exploit it ... the whole notion of GDP and the necessity for a growing economy is absurd ... all it does is create opportunities for wealth for the wealthy but does not concern itself with sustainability nor standard of living or anything about humanity ... as long as the economy grows by 3% - everything is good ... it's complete BS and this is why we are where we are ...
Sign In or Register to comment.