Child Labor is A-OK

Is child labor really so bad when we can buy fancy electronics and running shoes at such incredible prices? Is it really so bad if a man is paid less than minimum wage and works excessive hours under sub-human working conditions when people living in wealthier nations are awarded for their race to technological advancement with a seemingly never-ending supply of hardware? Before answering “no” and finding the thought of someone as young as 11 working in a dirty factory to build our computers or stitch our t-shirts together, remember what we might have to give up to ensure our ideals are carried out in the poorer manufacturing nations.

This was the discussion that Kenji and I entered into earlier this week after discussing the recent discovery by Apple that some of their overseas equipment manufacturers have failed to meet all the criteria that Apple, as a “responsible organization”, has laid out as part of their contract.  The kids that worked for Apple’s suppliers weren’t as young as 11, but that’s beside the point.

Oddly enough, this is a topic that both Kenji and I agree on so I won’t go into too many details. However, what was interesting was how we both viewed the situation on a grand scale. It comes down to a very simple question consisting of only two simple words: who cares?

Do We Really Care?

Oh, sure, most people would be appalled at the thought of a child working in a factory because their family was too poor to afford food. But would it stop us from buying a highly sought-after product? $20 says most people would quickly say “no” or, at the very least, hesitate before answering. It’s not that we don’t care … it’s simply due to the fact that we’re fortunate enough that these things happen to nameless, faceless people thousands of kilometers away who we’ll never see, hear, or know. This is like worrying about the fate of a baby rabbit after being handled by humans and its mother rejects it. Yeah, it’s sad, but it won’t stop some of us from wanting to cuddle baby rabbits.

What’s interesting here isn’t the fact that Apple made this information freely available before the problems had been resolved, but the fact that the factories in question are also responsible for manufacturing products for several of the largest, most influential technology companies on the planet. HP, Dell, and Lenovo are just three of the many companies who, in addition to Apple, call on the services of companies who are willing to manufacture many of our fancy electronics for a fraction of the price we’d pay if something were “proudly made in the USA” or some other nation. What this tells us is that most people in western nations will have a high probability that at least one product we own was manufactured by someone who has been poisoned, treated poorly, paid unfairly, or otherwise subject to conditions we would find unacceptable in our civilized nations.

Should Buying Local Be An Option?

Kenji and I quickly switched gears from this subject to what might happen if a company like HP were to manufacture and assemble most of their equipment in North America rather than East Asia.  Sony is notorious for their high prices and unacceptable levels of quality, but that’s what happens when you manufacture and assemble products in a nation with a high standard of living and first-rate infrastructure.  If HP were to produce as much as they could within the United States, would we see a similar sky-high price tag and sub-optimal operational life?

In all realities, HP would probably pull an IBM and switch over to providing mainly services rather than products.  The amount of pollution that is created during the manufacture of our electronics is nothing short of staggering.  One of the reasons the air in North America is so clean is because much of the heavy polluting industries have been farmed out to poorer nations that will sell their children future for pennies if it means the parents could live like kings today.  We’ve seen the same pattern happen everywhere the noble cause of globalization has gone, and it’s yet to reach all corners of the world.  Sure, there are still a lot of heavy industrial corporations spewing toxic chemicals into the atmosphere in Canada and the US, but it’s nothing compared to what these two nations have strong-armed developing nations into doing.

However, setting such issues as pollution aside, considering how detailed and customized technology companies can make our products now, would it not make sense to provide us the option of having our product manufactured and assembled in our home nations?

It would cost a lot more. The processors would undoubtedly still come from Malaysia.  But it would give the buyer the ability to proudly say that they’re supporting their own nation’s economy and providing jobs to their countrymen.  At the end of the day, isn’t that what people really want to see?  Respectable jobs in their own country rather than in someone else’s backyard?

Neither Kenji nor I thought this would be very likely in North America or even Europe.  Wealthy nations have stood on the backs of the poor since before written history began.  While the people might show outrage at the thought of a nameless, faceless human being subjected to inhuman treatment, it will not get in the way of our lusting over shiny new objects that would fill our acquaintances with envy.  It is, after all, human nature.

Disclaimer:
Kenji and I both abhor child labor and having people work under sub-human circumstances for the sake of a dollar.  The comments that we made about “who cares” were based on our observation that most people can’t be bothered to go out and vote in their own country, so wouldn’t be too concerned about the poor conditions people in wealthy nations have unknowingly subjected to those in less fortunate circumstances.  It’s all out of sight, out of mind.