These past two (or maybe just one) week(s) we've read a lot of different perspectives and focuses that think about free trade in the classroom as well as in the real world.
Myself: "Communism doesn't seem to work, there's comparatively no competition between the amount of goods a communist nation can make compared to a freer nation such as America with capitalism."
Uncle V. : "Looking at East and West Germany, one was prosperous, one un-wealthy, both the same culturally, ethnically, the only difference was political / economic system and the country they were in. It's clear that free trade was better."
This short summation of my thoughts on free trade as a trade system is: yes free trade has it's benefits and it's not perfect. It's the best worst system we got.
Sweatshops. When the idea comes to mind I think about huge factory-skyscraper jam packed with hundreds maybe thousands of workers having to work long hours to get remedial work finished. These kind of working conditions to us are intolerable, even part-time or temp agency workers get better treated. On the other hand, the workers still get paid and if the country allows it they can push their extra earnings into education. I know this is harsh but sometimes you gotta just jump through the hoops, landmarks, and tough times in life.
In the future I will be affected when I look at the label of my t-shirt and look not at just the size but where it was made.
I totally agree with you about the sweatshops.
ReplyDeleteLife is a competition and is hard.