From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Tue Apr 09 2002 - 18:50:21 MDT
> (Wei Dai <weidai@eskimo.com>):
> On Tue, Apr 09, 2002 at 02:28:24PM -0500, Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
> > Slave labor. As long a China tolerates slavery, the U.S. should
> > not be trading with them. I don't buy that cultural relativist
> > nonsense--slavery is wrong, always has been wrong, and always will
> > be wrong, and must not be supported or tolerated.
>
> By "slave labor" do you mean prison labor (laogai), people who
> voluntarily work for what we consider very low wages, abducting and
> selling of women into forced marriages, or something else?
>
> Please explain how buying a product made in China constitutes support or
> tolerance for slave labor. I've always felt good about buying products
> made in China, thinking that it would help stimulate economic and
> political development which will eventually ameliorate the above problems.
> If you're saying that increased trade actually hurts China I would
> certainly like to know why.
It is my personal opinion that both prison labor as practiced in
China (where most prisoners are confined without even the most
basic rights to a fair trial), and widespread child labor by children
far too young to give meaningful consent, and even some "free"
laborers in the government-planned economy are essentially slaves,
and I further believe that most of the money received from abroad
for Chinese goods goes to support the government, not independent
businessmen. I understand that no country is blameless here: even
American businessmen have to deal with heavy regulation and taxation
when they deal abroad; but their profits are still /their/ profits,
and benefit theith employees and shareholders. I believe that China
does not rise to even the most basic level of civilized, free, and
open society, and until they show some basic respect for human rights
I will avoid sending my money there.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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