Chinese slaves

Rushlimbo

Keep buying those cheap Walmart goods, China is our friend and trading partner.

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Chinese fathers of child slaves seek help online
Wed Jun 13, 5:51 AM ET

About 400 Chinese men whose children were sold to work as slaves at brickworks were seeking help online after risking their lives and spending all their savings in a mostly futile search, media reported on Wednesday.

At least 1,000 children, with the youngest 8, were kidnapped near train or bus stations in the central province of Henan and had been sold to work in northwestern Shanxi, the official People's Daily said on its Web site (http://www.people.com.cn).

The fathers from Henan, who "spent all the money they had and risked their lives to go deep into the mountains looking for their children," had already rescued about 40, the report said.

"We were shocked by what we saw," it quoted the fathers as saying in a petition letter.

"Some children had been isolated from the outside world for seven years, and some were beaten and maimed because they tried to escape, and the backs of some were burnt by supervisors with burning red bricks," the letter was quoted as saying.

"They worked 14 hours a day, but had little to eat ... Being beaten up was common," it said, adding that some children were buried alive when their injuries got worse.

To save the children guarded by "thugs" and supervisors was not easy and local police "not only did not help, but even prevented" them from freeing the children, the fathers were quoted as saying.

Since the online campaign was launched, police from Henan had urged their counterparts in Shanxi to help with the rescue.

Last week, state media reported the rescue of 31 people, forced to work for a year as slaves at a brickworks run by the son of a local Communist Party official in the same province.

Among them, eight were so traumatized by the experience that they were only able to remember their names, and one laborer was beaten to death with a hammer for not working hard enough.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/china_slaves_dc;_ylt=AmQXvX8n.A3phyBY308vo0YDW7oF

jlew24asu

so you blame walmart or china ?

Rushlimbo

jlew24asu wrote:

so you blame walmart or china ?

Both. They are both part of the cycle to produce and sell goods ever more cheaply no matter what the cost to humans and the environment.

jlew24asu

Rushlimbo wrote:

Both. They are both part of the cycle to produce and sell goods ever more cheaply no matter what the cost to humans and the environment.

its sad isnt it? human slavery is worse today then it has even been. I also have read the US government is leading the worldwide fight against it.

Rushlimbo

jlew24asu wrote:

its sad isnt it? human slavery is worse today then it has even been. I also have read the US government is leading the worldwide fight against it.

Yes, it is hard to believe the cruelty that humans can possess. I truly cannot understand how someone can do this to another human/animal. The U.S. has been pushing this issue with regards to slavery and sexual slavery.

jlew24asu

Rushlimbo wrote:

Yes, it is hard to believe the cruelty that humans can possess. I truly cannot understand how someone can do this to another human/animal. The U.S. has been pushing this issue with regards to slavery and sexual slavery.

be careful limbo, we might be agreeing again

Rushlimbo

jlew24asu wrote:

be careful limbo, we might be agreeing again

We will refer to this day as "Black Wednesday" from here on.

Milestone

I thought that Wal-Mart always bragged about only selling products that were "Made in the USA".

jlew24asu

Milestone wrote:

I thought that Wal-Mart always bragged about only selling products that were "Made in the USA".

everything is made in china. no way around it

polaris

Fair Trade

all it takes are corporations with a conscience ... but apparently that is an oxymoron ...

surferdude

polaris wrote:

Fair Trade

all it takes are corporations with a conscience ... but apparently that is an oxymoron ...

Fair Trade

all it takes are consumers with a conscience ... but apparently that is an oxymoron ....

Consumers have all the power. Every purchase made at Wal-Mart tells the world you don't care about Human Rights, or at the very least care more about saving money than Human Rights. You purchase reflect what you care about.

butters

One should take a close look at the goings ons in Guam. Both bonded labour and sexual slavery goes on there too, and that is a US protectorate. Chinese people have chosen to go work there because they think they wouldn't be treated poorly on US soil, and they fall into the same traps. And the goods made there can legally say 'made in the USA' on them.

jlew24asu

butters wrote:

One should take a close look at the goings ons in Guam. Both bonded labour and sexual slavery goes on there too, and that is a US protectorate. Chinese people have chosen to go work there because they think they wouldn't be treated poorly on US soil, and they fall into the same traps. And the goods made there can legally say 'made in the USA' on them.

um, how the hell do you know what goes on at guam ?

butters

Why so hostile?

http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=426
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1998/November/560cr.htm
http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2006/paradise.asp

jlew24asu

butters wrote:

Why so hostile?

http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=426
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1998/November/560cr.htm
http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2006/paradise.asp

o butterball. i'm not hostile. stick around, you'll see.

thanks for the info.

Abookamongstthemany

surferdude wrote:

Fair Trade

all it takes are consumers with a conscience ... but apparently that is an oxymoron ....

Consumers have all the power. Every purchase made at Wal-Mart tells the world you don't care about Human Rights, or at the very least care more about saving money than Human Rights. You purchase reflect what you care about.

I think the majority of people do care about human rights. Does that stop these products from flying off the shelf....not in the least. So where is the problem coming in? 1.) People aren't aware of the labor practices being used to manufacture these products. 2.) People don't have the time or won't make the time to reseach these things 3.) People that do know about these things still have a harder time finding alternate products and stores that are readily available to them. 4.) People often have a harder time being able to afford the alternatives

So while people are not doing anything to stop this....these workers pay the price. Theories are all nice and fine but if no change is coming then you have to consider that your theory just isn't working.

surferdude

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

So while people are not doing anything to stop this....these workers pay the price. Theories are all nice and fine but if no change is coming then you have to consider that your theory just isn't working.

Consumers having the power is not a theory it's reality. Consumers also generally decline to assume their responsibility and use their power ethically, again not a theory but reality.

I just find it weird that so many people want corporations (whose mandate is to make money) to make the changes that they themselves are unwilling to make of their own free will. Ignorance, greed and laziness are just excuses to keep doing what you're doing.

jlew24asu

surferdude wrote:

Consumers having the power is not a theory it's reality. Consumers also generally decline to assume their responsibility and use their power ethically, again not a theory but reality.

I just find it weird that so many people want corporations (whose mandate is to make money) to make the changes that they themselves are unwilling to make of their own free will. Ignorance, greed and laziness are just excuses to keep doing what you're doing.

I agree with this. but did you just say free will? o boy here we go

even flow?

No union! Kids making the goods! And I'm still paying $200 for my Nikes! How dare they!

2 cents labour and some bulk shipping charges. Somebody is making a huge buck on the back of a child.

Abookamongstthemany

surferdude wrote:

Consumers having the power is not a theory it's reality. Consumers also generally decline to assume their responsibility and use their power ethically, again not a theory but reality.

I just find it weird that so many people want corporations (whose mandate is to make money) to make the changes that they themselves are unwilling to make of their own free will. Ignorance, greed and laziness are just excuses to keep doing what you're doing.

Theory comes in where you think consumers are going to make a change. They haven't been. Reality. I'd like to see some actually change...some progress...not just the same old line about how it's on the consumers... it's on both.

Greed and laziness are also traits of these corporations who just wanna make a quick buck and don't worry about the means of doing so. A consumer is someone who buys stuff, corporation are the ones that provide the stuff....both have a responsibilty to do what's right. The consumer often doesn't doesn't know, firsthand, about these labor practices (ignorance) so they're not thinking about these workers when they buy these products. On the other hand, corporations know very well what they are doing and don't care....they can't claim ignorance, they have to claim greed, selfishness and inhumane treatment. I'd rather be ignorant than purposely inhumane any day. True enough, consumers have choices but let's not pretend these corporations don't have them, as well.

Abookamongstthemany

jlew24asu wrote:

I agree with this. but did you just say free will? o boy here we go

If consumers weren't demanding white rhino horns then they'd still be here...works out well, doesn't it?