Originally posted by: blackangst1
You shouldnt talk about free markets in here. People dont like 'em.
/grabs lawnchair and popcorn
(I agree 100% BTW)
Societies always favor trade. If they don't, then we're all stuck with the goods we've got within our borders. It's not efficient, and not everyone benefits as much as they could. It's just basic economics. If you can specialize in something, and sell that resource to other traders in the market, you do it. Ideally, efficient resource distribution results. Yes, sometimes it hurts some people, but that's the inevitable expense of progress. Look at automobile assembly. There is a LOT of automation in the factories, which means that many
people are not employed there. But the benefit is that the markets of the world gain access to lower priced vehicles made with more consistent quality than when error-prone humans are everywhere on the assembly line. In addition, the people who would otherwise have been performing menial, repetitive jobs in an assembly line are now available to perform other jobs that are not yet done by robots. "Efficient resource utilization" needs not apply only to natural resources. Human labor is a resource.
The global market is just like the market in this country, compete, or get out of the market.
OR work to change the nature of the market, namely with things like labor laws in mind. We complain now about the working conditions in China or India, seemingly forgetting that not too long ago, corporations in this country loved the environment. Workers' rights? Yup, you have the right to shut up and get to work. Got injured on the job? Oh well, sucks for you, you're disposable. Need time off for your family? Find, you're fired, now you've got all the time in the world.
Another fact to face is that people actually
seek out these jobs. You can face a life of complete poverty, barely able to make enough to eat every day, or go to a factory, and live in slightly better poverty, with the knowledge that you can eat every day, and that you'll have something to live in. True, there are some cases of forced labor, which I find unacceptable. Child labor, also unacceptable, and as I understand it, it's also often forced upon them.
In time, I think that the workers in China and India will want better conditions, and eventually, there may be the government in place to do something about it. It took us many decades to complete the transition; no reason to think they'll do it any quicker, especially with China's more restrictive government. Ultimately, I think that the passage of time will favor more and more personal liberties, and protections of civil liberties and human rights.