Wal-Mart Dolls Made By Sweatshop Labor

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This close to Christmas, this is a sad story indeed.

Yet I would venture to say it one, probably found throughout China in some form or another, for China is not a country with a good human rights reputation.

Neither is China a country I trust (this is personal, based on a now deceased mentor and Professor).
It is a lack of trust based on its early history proceeding to the Communist revolution.
An idea, that nations with deeply ingrained cultures, seldom break from those foundations.

And China has been a militarized culture longer than any known civilization, developing weapons before many nations existed.
If one reads current Chinese military doctrine, it is a policy proclaiming one of ‘patience’, ‘lying in wait’, and advocating ‘pre-emptive force’. All of which are heralds of their ancient military foundation.

But it is neither a giant leap of logic to assume that such a nation as China, faced with a modern, world dominating culture, such as the United States, which has a huge and superior military,
it not a leap of logic that such a warrior nation as China should instinctively choose another strategic route to ensure domination (ergo: the continuance of its ancient ambitions) and that strategy be one it also anciently familiar with, world domination of trade and economic power.

This is a post I would like to continue later…

I wonder if China and other counrties will ever have workers unions. America was a pretty rough place to work at one time too.
It is not that I am pro-union but, when things are really bad....

As we all know, China ia a Communist nation. And as we all know, the people of Communist nations, have very little, to no voice at all, when it comes to free speech, and their employment options. If the unions were to be let in by the Communist leaders, then that would enable the workers to voice their own opinions about politics, “and” the conditions of their employment. Unions are based on a democratic system, via voting and free speech. This is something that Communist China, does not want! If this happens, they know that their dictator style of government, will start to lose some of it’s authority!

Always remember, POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!

Merry Christmas to All.

Wishing you Peace and enjoyment of family.

Cazar,

I understand what you are saying about China’s militaristic history.  I also would agree that it is unlikely for a country to ‘change it’s spots’ or so to say.  Given that, I would think that the best bet for us is to try to shift their focus into economic domination rather than military.  Then we can at least compete.  Not only can we compete, but we can work together and both come out ahead.  If China truly caught up to us militarily, they could dominate just on numbers alone.

Do you think there are any parallels to Japan that can be made here? 

Power to the People,
I guess one of the reasons I am so excited about capital investment in China is that it does filter money and property down to the lower classes.  While I acknowledge that it isn’t much, and it’s certainly nothing like the standard of living Americans enjoy, I think that this can be used to help pull them out of Communism.  The reason I would suggest this is that I believe that the same helped pull both women and minorities out of oppression in this country in the past 150 years.  I would suggest this because I believe that property rights are a natural extension of our most basic right--the right to ourselves.

Wal-Mart is at fault here—as usual—because they still sell these products.  However, Wal-Mart is not the only store to supply the western world with Bratz toys.

I think people need to go after MGA and simply boycott these ridiculous dolls.  If more people were made aware of the conditions that the toys they give to their children are made in, hopefully their consciences will kick in.

Come on people get real. What I have to say is short and sweet. these people are not forced to work there I am sure. What I mean is this; yeah the job may suck, but apparently its better than other jobs they have available to them otherwise people wouldn’t come to work there. Just because a job isnt good to OUR standards doesnt mean its necessarily bad for other people. If the factories stopped having a flow of people obviously willing to work for the wages and conditions they currently have, then they would change them.
Get real people, its capitalism 101

Scott - I really don’t think, that no amount of money, will pull China away from their Communist roots. Keep in mind, investing in China, is risky business to begin with. I watched on the news yesterday, that China is building up their navy to vast proportions. Keep in mind, that would be no different, than either North Korea or Iran building up their navy. No good will come out of it! Their Communist government has the billions of dollars to build up their navy, (thanks to America’s capital investments) while their working class, is still working for $2+ dollars a day in wages! All I’m trying to say here is, by American companies investing in Communist China, were not only killing the manufacturing job market here at home, but were funding the build-up of their extremist military at the same!!! The time!!! The capital, is not going where it should be going. We have bigger “domestic” issues here at home, like job loss, and well over 30 million people, living at, or below the poverty line. Helping out Communist China, is “not” benefiting their working class. And with China supporting their Communist friend and neighbor North Korea, your investments will be at stake if another war breaks out, between the U.S. and the Communist nations!!! Just something for you to think about!

Scott - During World War 2, do you think that American’s stock with business’s that were based in Nazi Germany faired well? If the business’s were German owned, the stocks eventually fell through the floor. If they were American owned, then the business was seized all together by their government! Always remember, shareholder’s investments in China may be doing well right now, but at the end of the day, their still doing business with a Communist government! Some may be “punching holes” in their own ship!

We are running into a HUGE problem here in America. We have been losing thousands of jobs as goods are being manufactured overseas. Wal-Mart, and other large retailers in their quest for the lowest possible wholesale price, have forced manufacturers overseas. And what choice do manufacturers have?
Just suppose you were a manufacturer of sweaters, and you were selling to Wal-Mart for the very first time. You sold them a particular sweater for $20.00 the first year. But the next year they wanted you to sell them that same sweater for $14.50. And the year after that they squeezed your wholesale price to them again. Eventually you would be forced to do one of two things. 1) refuse to sell to them or 2) find a way to cut your expenses.
It is unfortunate that most manufacturers have chosen the second route. And how do they cut expenses? By manufacturing overseas where they don’t have to pay anywhere near as much as they would have to here in America.
What is also unfortunate is that we have people who don’t care where things are made. They don’t care whether it was made in China, India, or Bangledesh. They are looking at the price tag, not at where it was made. They also don’t care about the working conditions of those who made that stuff.
Many years ago when Sam was still alive he had this huge “buy America” campaign. Some years after this campaign started, a reporter for an evening documentary went into a local Wal-Mart. Their purpose? To try to find goods that were “made in America.” Unfortunately, they found very little. Most everything that reporter found was made in China or some other country.
Until the Wal-Mart’s of the world stop squeezing suppliers, or suppliers refuse to sell to Wal-Mart, we will continue to lose jobs overseas. The only other solution is for consumers to refuse to purchase that stuff. But I doubt you will see that happen since the price usually dictates what people buy these days.
Is a Bratz doll really worth that much? Is it worth the loss of American jobs? And how about the conditions the workers endure who made it? I stopped shopping in Wal-Mart many years ago. Isn’t it time more Americans did the same?

Power to the People,

It is certainly a good point that you bring up about risk.  I wholeheartedly agree that any company who does business overseas should be the one who bears the risks.  If the Chinese government nationalizes them, they alone should take the hit.  I also think it shows why trade can help stabilize China.  If our trade with them is the basis of their economic growth, it would be very difficult for them to go to war with us.  Their source of funding would dry up.

Cazar, I agree with you that the Chinese mindset predates communism.  They aren’t truly practicing communism now anyways.  I’m not as concerned about pulling China away from their communist roots as their militaristic roots.  What I’d be interested in discussing is practical ways to do this. 

I’ve already hit on trade a bit, but there is more to it.  Trade refocuses energy that would otherwise be spent in military goals.  People are aggressive, particularly the male versions of people.  They will seek to conquer others.  Let them do it in trade vs. war, and people live.  Not only do we live, but we both tend to gain.

China is also a major trading partner with our other Asian trading partners.  Much of what is ‘made in China’ used to be stamped with other countries names.  This helps to stabilize them and to keep them within our sphere of influence.

Another benefit of trade is that the lowest classes are getting money and property.  The GDP per person has increased from around $45/per person to over $1,100 per person in just 27 years.  And they are still growing.
It’s very easy for people to look at wages in overseas factories and point fingers.  However, this ignores the state of the country before any trade occurs.  They look at a country that is developing, and cry about how far behind they are.  To me this is like a college math major who is concerned because a fifth grader doesn’t know calculus yet.  They ignore that to get the fifth grade, the child must first learn counting, adding, multiplication tables, etc.  They are also ignoring the fact that in order to get to college, the kid must first go through sixth grade, seventh grade, etc.  For third world countries to become like us, them must go through the process of growth. 

At current growth rates, it would only take about 30 years for GDP per person to be close to our current GDP per person.  Regardless of our personal ideology, it’s hard to ignore the massive increase in human wellfare that this represents.  But again, war would devastate these gains.  This would help put the vast majority of Chinese against aggression against us. 

I think the final thing that is in our favor is increasing internet access.  This goes hand in hand with economic growth.  It is becoming much more accessible for the common man, and this will help to negate official propaganda that would otherwise serve to instigate aggression. 

Cazar, I again ask, do you think there could be parallels between Chinese and Japanese history?  I’m not a Japanse historian, but were they fairly militaristic up to WW2?

Jane,

“ Eventually you would be forced to do one of two things. 1) refuse to sell to them or 2) find a way to cut your expenses.”

You forgot a third option, increase productivity!!  Henry Ford, was able to reduce the price of an automobile by creating the ‘assembly line’.  Keeping things at a low price, makes things affordable to the masses, look at Plasma T.V.’s, DVD Players, Computers, etc., if it were not for constantly reducing the price, by increasing productivity, only ‘The Wealthy’ would be able to afford them.  I realize, that increasing productivity, can also result in less labor, but, it doesn’t make sense, to have 20 people working, where 4 could do the same job, with technology, therefore, that is a way to cut costs.

Increasing productivity is fine, Bob, but like so many aspects of Wal-Mart’s business model, they don’t know when enough is enough. The Bentonvillains apparently skipped Eco class the day they covered the Law of Diminishing Returns. Even the crew at Bloomberg News warned them:

“There is a point at which no more efficiencies can be squeezed out of the system without harming the people who make it work”

And while some of the constantly growing U.S. productivity is due to automation, the American worker plays a role as well.  Now if wages just increased at the same rate as productivity.

The manufacturing of toys has long been the poster child for horrendous sweatshop conditions. I think it’s the juxtaposition of young slaves dying from handling toxic materials to make toys for our Christmas that makes the image so powerful.

Bob, I am sure increasing productivity was considered and done by many suppliers who sold to the Wal-Mart’s of the world. Apparently, increasing productivity wasn’t enough. If increasing productivity was working, then why are suppliers moving their operations overseas? And what are we talking about when we say increasing productivity?
Perhaps by increasing productivity, a supplier finds a better or cheaper way to manufacture their goods. They need to have less people working for them, which in turn cuts their expenses.
Maybe by increasing their productivity they add a shift and have people working at night. This means they can turn out more goods, but it adds to their payroll.
I don’t know what things are like where you live. But here it is difficult finding people who want to put in a days work. People here get hired on Monday and call in sick on Wednesday. How can you possibly increase productivity when you have employees like that?
And just suppose you increased your productivity, BUT IT STILL WASN’T ENOUGH? What then? The Wal-Mart’s of the world want to suck blood from everyone who deals with them. They don’t want just their share, THEY WANT EVERYBODY’S SHARE.  When is Wal-Mart going to finally have enough?

Jane,

“I don’t know what things are like where you live. But here it is difficult finding people who want to put in a days work. People here get hired on Monday and call in sick on Wednesday. How can you possibly increase productivity when you have employees like that?”

And, are you saying that by increasing wages and giving better benefits, these people will somehow change into model employees?  In business, it is the other way around, you do a good job first, and then you get rewarded, they don’t reward you first and then hope you will put out the work!!  Somewhere along the line, people decided that a business is a democracy, they should decide what they will and will not do there, when they want to work and when they want to take off and what they should be compensated.  Why should a company raise compensation for people who are always trying to stab them in the back?  All one has to do is look at the auto, steel, textile and airline industries, to see the result of employees making the decisions as to their compensation.  As long as Wal-Mart is paying at a level equal to or above their competitors, what are people complaing about?  And, as long as the employees miss work, complain in the lunch room, and think they need high wages, for little work, things will never change there.  And, as long as a greeter thinks that they should be paid $30.00 an hour, because they have been with the company for 15 years as a greeter, the companies attitude towards them is not going to change.  People have to show the inititive to advance, before their compensation will advance, that is the way it is in most businesses!!