'Do you care if goods are made in sweatshops?' poll discussion

boydE

if sweatshops closed and everything suddenly tripled in price there would be an outcry to bring the sweatshops back, sad but true, people in the UK waste money buying things they don't really need or probably would never use.

foghorn

Also we mustn't forget that sweatshops existed in this country once upon a time, at an early stage in our economic development. As they did in pretty much every other developing country. We developed beyond that stage.

There is a danger that by railling too much against sweatshops we cut off a vital stage of these countries' economic development; the road through which they haul themselves out of poverty.

It would be sadly ironic if our concern for the welfare of workers in these parts of the world actually prevented them from improving past the sweatshop phase of their economic development: a kind of "I'm alright, Jack" pulling up of the ladder, although with the best of intentions.

borkid

turbotabby wrote: »

As a disabled person living on the rapidly decreasing DLA that in no way keeps track of the real cost of things I can't afford to take the moral highground on things like this. If I can buy a t shirt in primark for a quid or two then I will - if I had to pay department store prices then I can't afford it.
ve people forgotten we are in the middle of a credit crunch? There are a great many people in this country who can only afford to shop in poundland and primark and we shouldn't be made to feel bad about that.
I do stick to "non animal cruelty" household products and that is as much as I can do. I do this because I feel strongly about abolishing vivisection as a first step to creating a humane society and also as more people believe this too the price differential is only about 10% not 1000%

My daughter is in the same position as you, but doesn't get DLA, has been for 9 years. She gets her clothes from charity shops or makes them, with the exception of underclothes which she buys whenever she can find them in a sale. She used to buy from Primark but doesn't now precisely because of the 'sweatshops'.

gp29_2

I think this is really part of a bigger problem, that rich countries are consuming too much. What about reduce, reuse, recycle? Do we need new clothes every year? If the large corporations were not using up and exploiting all the natural and human resources in developing countries, they would probably have enough food and land, and not have to scrape a living in sweatshops to buy food.

morg_monster

foghorn wrote: »

Also we mustn't forget that sweatshops existed in this country once upon a time, at an early stage in our economic development. As they did in pretty much every other developing country. We developed beyond that stage.

There is a danger that by railling too much against sweatshops we cut off a vital stage of these countries' economic development; the road through which they haul themselves out of poverty.

It would be sadly ironic if our concern for the welfare of workers in these parts of the world actually prevented them from improving past the sweatshop phase of their economic development: a kind of "I'm alright, Jack" pulling up of the ladder, although with the best of intentions.

But as long as there are people in the developed world who aren't willing to pay more than £3 for a t-shirt, these countries won't be allowed / able to progress beyond this stage in development. Where would the sweatshops go next?

Harry_Flashman

Such are market forces.

Oh dear, how sad, never mind

trishthedish

I would say that its fairly possible to be both a responsible purchaser as well as a financially careful one with a bit of thought. Years ago, living in London by myself on a very low income, basic minimum wage in a bedsit, I got into the practice of spotting bargains without compromising quality. This was long before low cost goods were everywhere in the shops anyway. I went to Department stores on the last day of the sales when prices lowest, and bought food at the end of the day from little shops on my way home, also the cheapest time. It would be very easy to get sucked into just buying cheap goods nowadays if you were on a low income (fortunately, I am now better off, but old habits remain) but these are ones which usually involve exploitation somewhere. I have been in Primark but hated it, the atmosphere of grab, grab, grab, stuff all over the place etc really depressed me, and a lot of the goods looked really shoddy too. If you can buy good stuff in the sales from a responsible retailer/manufacturer, you stand a better chance of buying responsibly whilst still getting a bargain. Monsoon are the best on the high st, East, a break off outfit from designers who worked at Monsoon are equally good. M and S are great too, and getting even better. Try the Per Una end of line ranges and clearance rails, the clearance rails at Monsoon and East, which are often in store outside the normal sale times. For cosmetics, Neals Yard are fantastic, but too expensive for me except for special offers. M and S again have great ranges of cosmetics and makeup, the prices compare to stuff in supermarkets, but its fairly ethical, unlike many of the big brands in Boots and supermarkets. Yes, it does contain certain chemicals as well though, so think in terms of offers online at Green People, they sometimes work out cheaper. Also, a great find - Lloyds the Chemists have their own range of organic face creams, which is very, very reasonable, a few pounds per item, again it undercuts the supermarket big brands and is ethical into the bargain. Maybe this all requires a bit of thought, but I don't believe anyone who says they don't have time - we're all busy, but we all have 24 hours in one day, it just depends on what is important to you, and says a lot about you what you choose to prioritise.

ducky2004

An interesting prespecive from all these from a West Carribean Born Nobel prize winning economist Arthur Lewis on industrial wages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lewis_%28economist%29

Also, technology transfer and infrastructure development will 'help' the poor country more than piece meal 'fair trade' practises.
but beware that doing this will turn the so called 3rd world into fiece competitors, causing even faster decline in british living
standards etc.

kevanf1

If it's good quality and cheap then I'll buy it. Ok it may have been made in a sweatshop but not that long ago that sweat shop would have been here in the UK and giving somebody a job at least. I don't approve of children being exploited but at the end of the day I only have so much money and it has to stretch each and every way so ethics get put to one side.

russell_allen

Boy do I get sad reading threads like this. I'd like to if I may add my slightly rambling thoughts on the matter:

1. Buying ethical clothing vs people losing their jobs
I don't think this stands up. The UK population buys 60 million garments at 2 quid each, versus 60 million at 4 quid each, I suspect the manual labour required to produce will be the same in each case, but with a higher amount of money going to the manufacturers / workers (you would hope).

2. I can't guarantee that my extra money goes to the workers
This for me is the cost of my own concience. In many cases in life you have no control over what someone else does, but you DO have control over your own actions, and all that you can do for a clear concience is to do your best to do the right thing. If more people thought this way I genuinely think the net effect would be extremely positive, the fairtrade movement here gives me a lot of encouragement.

3. I can't afford to be paying for ethically produced goods!
I see it as sheer good luck that I was born into a western society where we don't (in general) suffer from hunger or infant mortality or reduced life expency - but does my good fortune mean that I'm better or more worhy than those born into less fortunate circumstances? I personally believe not.

4. This is the way economies develop
The way the British economy developed off the back of slavery and forced child labour on our own shores is not something I think anyone reading this now would tolerate today. So why would we not be doing everything we possibly can to help other nations and societies fast-forward through this chapter of their own development?

As long as I've got my health, food in my cupboards and friends and family who I can spend time with and who love me, then that's what matters to me. Every opportunity that I miss to help anyone else have the same, regardless of where they happen to have been born, I suffer for it.

Russ