This is sort of a continuation of my social justice musings from the last post...
I just finished a research paper on sweatshops within the garment industry and the information I found was unsettling and not as black and white as I expected it to be. I originally chose the topic because of a news article I had read in the New York Times, “Can Low-paying Garment Industry Save Haiti?” A lot of people hoped Haiti could recover from the economic effects of the recent earthquake through an increase in the garment industry. But this was an increase in the
low-paying garment industry. The argument of this type of economic approach is that by bringing in more business to the factories, more people get jobs. And those people then put that money right back into the economy when they purchase their basic needs such as food and clothing. So the economy wins. Hurray for Haiti! But what about the workers? How do they benefit from all this? With a factory job they can make $3.09/day. How is that benefiting the people of Haiti? And yet, without a factory job they are much worse off…
Sweatshops exist because large companies seek out the best place to produce their products by looking for the cheapest labor. It’s a competitive race to the bottom. Who can offer the cheapest wages? And workers desperate for jobs will accept whatever they can get.
Everyone knows what a sweatshop is. Everyone knows that sweatshops still exist today. But what do we as consumers do about it? Nothing. And if we did in fact decide to boycott a company that used sweatshops we would 1) find it really hard to do this because most companies employ sweatshops and 2) only hurt the workers because a boycott would lessen production and thereby cut jobs (and paychecks) of the workers.
Eliminating sweatshop labor would require a lot of systematic change. We can’t just boycott factories without providing the means to fix the more underlying issue – poverty. It comes down to this: what are we doing to help developing nations fight their way out of poverty so that a race to the bottom isn’t necessary anymore? To protest that factory labor exploitation is wrong is the first step but taking action needs to follow that. Unfortunately, not a lot of u
s have the means nor the power to affect systematic change by ourselves. That is why I believe that education among friends and family is key to getting the information out there. The more aware the public is about an issue, the more demand there is for change. Only when we can educate others will we bring together a community of people that work together to make a difference.
And what is one of the best ways to share information? Stories. That is because stories capture the heart in a way that nothing else can. I just read two very awesome books about the sweatshop industry.
Where am I Wearing? by Kelsey Timmerman, and
Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang both offer interesting insight toward understanding not just the manufacturing industry but a closer look at the lives of the people who work in the factories. I highly recomm
end both books!
Factory Girls was especially intriguing and I found myself relating to a lot of the girls that Chang interviewed. Their struggles with the need for true friendship, for upward mobility, for independence, and having to deal with boy problems and dating are all things that connect with my own life as well. It’s so cool to know that other girls across national, social, and economic lines are struggling with the same things I am. I recently found out that my Lolo (grandfather) was a migrant worker too. He had to leave his home in the Philippines to find work in Guam. He sent money back home and got to see his family maybe once a year.
We are all closer than we think and the more everyone realizes this, the more we can develop stronger relationships throughout the world. It seems such a simple thing to say but we are all human with similar human experiences of love, friendship, and struggle. So why don’t we quit fighting each other and work for peace instead? But I’m getting off the subject.
Everyone has a right to basic needs and a chance for them to better themselves and their family’s lives. This is basic Catholic Social Teaching. Human rights are the minimal conditions needed to protect human dignity. If basic rights are not met, such as the right to work, to have a living wage, and to be treated with respect, there exists a degradation of human dignity that lowers some below others. Sweatshops are no stranger to degrading human dignity by exploiting workers, depriving them of basic rights as a human being. Unfair conditions and wages create an inescapable situation for workers who have no choice but to accept the life they must lead under these conditions.
While we as workers deserve the fruits of our labor (i.e. private property) to
help better our lives, if that trumps the common good we no longer have that right. Pope John Paul II explains, “The right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone.” (Laborem Exercens) When there are billions of people around the world who don’t have their basic human rights met, it is our duty to alleviate that. Catholic Social Teaching calls Christians along with all people to take part in changing the conditions of the poor, the voiceless and the powerless. For how can we live in a privileged society seeking out riches and taking advantage of our right to private property when there are people who are in great need? The inequality does not have to reside in our world.
God calls us to love others and to act justly. Jesus emphasizes this notion through his example of loving all people equally, reaching out to the outcast of society and the poor and vulnerable. The call to imitate Christ is intimately tied up in the call to bring about peace and justice in our world. “According to the Christian message, therefore, our relationship to our neighbor is bound up to our relationship to God; our response to the love of God, saving us through Christ, is shown to be effective in his love and service of people. Christian love of neighbor and justice cannot be separated. “ (Justice in the World)
The more I learn about the struggles of billions of people in other countries, I feel a change within me. I can never go back to the same way of living my life. I think that a fear I have is that my passion will die out. I will become weary of trying to work for change and make a difference. “Saving the world” is tiring and often discouraging. My fear is that I’ll become discouraged and simply settle back into my former way of life, ignorant to the world around me, unaware of poignant issues in other countries, choosing to walk a path that is less unsettling and requiring no action on my part.
I hope I never go back.
Yours truly,
a girl who dreams
Well it seems that I have not posted in a long time…whoops. All I can say is that life is crazy. I went to China this summer which was an amazing adventure. I can check that off my List. If you want to see pictures you can find them on my facebook. If I have time I’ll write a post about my travels, but that may be awhile…
It’s been a good summer and it’s hard to believe that it’s almost over. My life feels so crazy sometimes but since when has life ever been calm? I’m learning to just enjoy life in the present moment…for all its joys…and the craziness too.
