Reply #168: Irrelevant, and if you would quit speaking in broad slogans, you might have better luck with this. [View All]

[Raskolnik]

You cannot deny the fact that the standard of living and the political/personal freedom for people in China has risen dramatically in the last few decades as a result of increasing trade with the rest of the world.

This increased trade has some downsides for China, and its modernization has not been (nor will it be) without missteps. But if you really care about Chinese workers, you have to acknowledge that many of the factory jobs that you are disparaging represent for them a way out of the crushing poverty of subsistence farming, and have allowed tens of millions of workers to build something better for their families.

This doesn't mean that conditions in many factories shouldn't improve, or that we shouldn't be outraged at examples of workers being mistreated. However, you are just plain ignorant if you really think that the majority of Chinese workers exist in a condition analogous to "slavery."

I suggest you read some of James Fallows' work from China--you may be surprised by much of what he has to report: http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/china/.


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