> The World Trade Organization espouses the free
>cross-border exchange of goods but not labor. And unfortunately this
>might shift money out of the pockets of the friends of the newly
>selected administration so i don't see a remedy any time soon. Sorry to
>bother you with US specific issues but I know that Canada faces the same
>problems (since that's the only news I get) and in Europe the problem is
>even more complex with the euro and all so i guess we're all on this
>boat together.
On the one hand, I say thank God for the Chinese, since they make it possible
for me to but decent footwear at Target for 20$, or to buy nice stained glass
light fixtures for my new house for only 150$ each. On the other hand, I have
a bit of "liberal guilt" over the probable exploitation of the laborers and
environment in China. I think China has some of the worst pollution on the
planet. Heck, there was a town there that the spooks (CIA, et al) didn't even
know existed because the smog was so bad that even thier satellites couldn't
see it. So, heck if I know what to do about it. If those shoes and those
lamps were made here in the 'states, I think they would be just beyond my
budget.
I saw a movie the other day, it's called "Someone to Love", by that whacky
director, can't remember his name. Anyway, it has the last footage of Orsen
Welles before he died. The subject was basically the women's liberation
movement, and Orsen commented that this country was attempting something that
has never been done before, which is to create a society without slaves. For
all of recorded history, slaves of some kind have supported each
civilization. With the emancipation of women from traditional roles, he
argued, we were getting rid of the last of our slaves. I'm wondering, though,
if we have merely exported our slave workforce to China, India, Mexico, et
al.
I'll tell you what amazes me. I'm standing at the bus stop, and I look down
at the cast iron manhole cover, and it says "made in India". What the heck?
Is it really that much cheaper to make cast iron manhole covers to US
specifications in India, then ship those heavy mothers half way around the
world to some port, then load them on trucks and railcars to be ground
transported to a place of business?
--
Be Seeing You.
Dirk Wright
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