List of Killer Products!

The List: Killer Products.

Good list!

Everyone already knows about diamonds, if you have something to add to the list please do.

 

how are diamonds killer?

 

Google:

Diamonds + Africa + Human Rights

 

I don't think the fact that a company is using child labor to produce the products should stop us from buying them. They shouldn't be on the list. Its a country's job to police the businesses and factories in them, not the company. The only one forcing those children to work is their parents, and its entirely possible those kids want to be there-maybe they prefer long, hard hours of work and having food and a bed to being unemployed and starving.

Just saying. ^^

 

I have been to Africa I spent alot of time there because of my Dads work. The children work because their famlies need them too. It is getting better than it was. But you cant judge based on what you read in the new here. It is nothing like what is actually taking place.

 

Barf!uke:

Yeah, and at least black slaves in the south had a bed to sleep in at night, so what's so wrong with american slavery, right?

There is a reason child labor laws exist in western nations.

Google:
Child Labor + history + exploitation + neoliberalism

 

Yeah, but the U.S didn't have child labor laws in the early 19th century either. Plenty of children could help supplement their parents incomes with jobs.

I've worked since I was 15 and helped pay my families bills. Would you rather my siblings and I had starved, went to school in filthy clothes, and lived without running water and electricity? Oh, wait, yes.

Those kids probably don't have electricity or running water, but at least maybe they won't starve now.

If you have such a problem with, why don't you eat beans and water and live w/o such amenities? That would bring awareness up.

Oh, and buy the way, not all African slaves had beds. You'll find that many in the South had to sleep on cold dirt floors

 

I think the point he is trying to make is that the way the kids are treated is different. Here kids can only work so many hours a week and you have to be a certain age to work alot of jobs. Kids have people looking out for them where. You are choosing to work to better you life and the life our your family. But you still have a choice.

No all countries are like that. Some places kids still don't have the choice and they can be worked long hours until they are sick. There is a huge difference between kids that work here and kids that work in other countries. When I say kids I also don't mean teens. I am talking kids that are 5, 6, 7 years old doing manual labor.

I think that is the point he is trying to get across.

 

Neoliberal bullshit.

You support your position by claiming that there are only two options available.

Starvation or Exploitation.

These nation weren't always dirt poor and have'nt always sent their children to sweatshops and factory farms.

What's changed?

When they got rid of child labor in the U.S. did entire people starve to death?
No.

Your giving a false dichotomy.

Getting rid of child labor betters a nations populace not the other way around, same goes for all the other labor laws that the west enjoys but western corporations deny to other people.

And we're not talking about a 15 year old working at mcdonald's after school.
We're talking about 6 year olds effectivley being owned by cocoa farmers and sweatshop owners.

Child slavery is never justified.

You're giving the same old tired excuse that slave holders have used since slavery has existed.

Yeah, they might be slaves, but at least they aren't homeless...

sick.

 

Slave Free candy please

 

That's absurd reasoning.

The company is not responsible for using child slaves, the government is for not stopping them?

That make zero sense.

If i skin my dog alive am i responsible for the crime or are the police for not stopping me?

The only way to stop a company from doing what you don't want them to do is to stop buying their products.

It's called boycotting and if it's good enough for Dr.King Jr it's good enough for me.

Besides a lot of the nation where child laobr/slavery exist don't regulate it or even classify it as a crime.

You are the consumer, you have the control...

Hence the name of this forum: Consumer Advocacy.

Did you wander in here by mistake?

 

Human Rights Watch: Child Labor / Child Labour

The Small Hands of Slavery: Bonded Child Labour in India

NIKE and Child Labor

Anti-Slavery - Child labour programme

Allegations of labor exploitation in the chocolate industry ...



Let me know if you need more...

 

A. I'm not for slavery of any sorts, child, convict, african, whatever sort.
B. Boycotts only work for smaller businesses and areas. I've been boycotting Wal*mart for about at least 5 years, that hasn't worked too well. The NAACP is boycotting the corporation that owns all those BP stations. The BP stations look pretty prosperous to me ^_^

Most of the people that buy diamonds and gold aren't exactly concerned with human rights.

And Dr.King was bombed and assassinated, which, if it comes to buying some chocolate or getting my house and church bombed, I'll just buy the damned chocolate.

Yes, they are. If they don't want too, they should stop busting into houses and blowing people's heads off.

 

In the context that we are speaking in Child slavery and child labor are synonomous

Lack of numbers.
Boycotts work and are effictive, the boycotts that you have mentioned haven't worked yet.

Which begs the question: If you believe that boycotting multinational corporations doesn't work, then why have you continued to boycott Walmart for the last 5 years?

And your point?
The fact that buying "clean" diamonds is gaining popularity says something, doesn't it?
The whole point of threads like this to get those people to care.
most people don't care simply because they don't now...

But it's not.
All i'm asking is that you don't buy chocolate from companies that use chld slavery and do buy your chocolate from companies that don't use child slavery.

What do lose by doing this?
What do you gain?

If someone harm's your child, i'll be sure to remind you that it's not the abusers fault(the police didnt stop him)...

Again, it's called Consumer Advocacy.

You are responsible for which company you buy products from, make smart choices.

Or maybe your brand of chocolate is more important?

Cotton was more important than blacks, so i could understand if you would rather buy a Crunch bar than care about child slavery...

 

Shane99X: I hate arguing with people, so I commend you for rocking. Thanks

I hear too often the logic of "X is bad but Y is worse, therefore I shouldn't worry about X" followed by "Y is a bigger problem than I am so I can't fix it."

A good quote comes from Dr. Phil, where he tells a woman something along the lines of "you're not going to want to get on a plane if the pilot is telling you 'oh this isn't going to turn out well, this is going to be bad'". The point being, talking abot things like they are worse than they are has a tendency of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. The only way to make sure you can't make a difference is to not try or do anything.

 

That is possibly the most inane comment I've ever read on Hip Forums.

 

Hmm..do i really want to get involved in this one...ah what the heck..

Child labor, low wages, long hours, etc is all about buisness. Its cheaper to make stuff somewhere else and ship it than to make it in the original country. Companies have to do this in order to compete with other companies. If company A can manufacture a product for 10 bucks, it will obviously do better than company B if company B can only manufacture it for 15 since it will be able to sell it for a lower price. So I can only really place the blame for this on the country that is allowing this kind of working to happen.

Part of the blame does fall on the companies using the labor. However, the idea that these companies should increase their workers wages and working conditions simply to treat them better is being extremely ideallistic. Any company that did such a thing would lose millions to others who did not change. The only way to universally up the wages and conditions realistically would be for the country to step in, in which case all the companies there would move to another country thats cheaper. If they can pay the minimum wage, they will pay the minimum wage.

Not that improving wages and conditions wouldnt have a side effect. In fact, increased wages can actually not improve living conditions very much at all. Once you increase wages, prices for products and services go up too (since it is now more expensive to make/operate them). So the cost of living will also go up, meaning that increase in wages made little difference to living conditions.

 

So what is your solution? Following the lead of big business and allowing them to exploit the weakest amongst us. Is life and the world only to be governed by monied interests. Why don't consideration, humanity and ethics play as big a role? Why is everything measured in terms of a return of currency? Right wing conservatives want to ban a woman's right to abortion, but they are not above capitalizing on the suffering of the poor, be they adults or children.

Children forced to work in substandard conditions and for long hours never have a chance of becoming adults that can break out of their situation. They are maimed, and slower to develop than children not forced to work, they aren't offered an education to help them rise above their current level of poverty, but if it's good for business it should be good for the world. Is that your argument?

 

Company A will only do better if people buy their goods. If everyone refuses to buy from them, it doesn't matter how low their overhead is. Their goods are deemed worthless. So the blame is really on the consumer to distinguish good from bad operating practices.

 

The money that we are giving to these countries for our oh-so-coveted luxuries is funding further child labor. So don't leave it to the country to "police businesses and factories" and certainly don't give them more money to neglect this responsibility.