Wii U Manufacturer Admits to Hiring Illegal Underage Workers

[Xanthious]

There is a solution that is very quick and easy: force the companies to stop being greedy.

Ok lets go with your solution. Let's implement laws that require fair wages and good working conditions. Knowing they are going to have to pay a first world wages anyway do you honestly think companies are going to keep having their manufacturing done in China? Of course they won't, if they are going to have to pay those types of wages they will leave China and move manufacturing operations to a first world country.

The only reason companies have their products made in China is because of how cheaply they are able to manufacture goods compared to places like America, Japan, etc. If you require increased wages and better working conditions the companies will pull out of China leaving all those Chinese workers unemployed and far worse off than they were working for low wages.

Of course even if they did keep manufacturing in China you'd then have to figure in exactly how much these new fair wages and improved working conditions will add to the cost of production. You see that increase will certainly be passed onto the consumer and it's hard to speculate how much business will be lost as a result of a higher price. Any loss in business will ultimately result in a fewer number of workers needed due to the smaller demand. This will ultimately add to who knows how many Chinese out of a job.

Again, everyone involved is simply making the best out of a bad situation. There is no magical fix that will instantly create good jobs for the Chinese work force. They only have the jobs they do because of how cheaply they can manufacture goods. You take away their competitive advantage and the jobs go away. It may not seem like it but the Chinese people are better off with the way things are now compared to how they would be if people misguidedly tried to "fix" things.

 

[DrOswald]

1st you have no prove that a TV or console would cost that much in that situation. Then you arent looking into the economy as a whole and you ignore lots of stuff, like, if they had to sell at that price, no one would buy it, then they'd need to find an alternative. Everything is connected in an economy? it's not that simple.

Oh they'd find an alternative all right. They'd set up shop in another third world Hell hole where they could produce their goods at a cost that is in line with what they had previously been accustomed to in China. Maybe it would be Mexico. Maybe India. Maybe any number of places that are filled to capacity with cheap labor.

If people truly want to do what is best for the Chinese people then forcing first world working conditions onto the factories isn't what they should be looking at. The only thing that forcing higher pay and a better work environment would accomplish is to drive the companies that are employing millions of Chinese citizens out of the country and as a result leave millions of people jobless.

What is best in the long term for the Chinese people is to let their economy evolve naturally. Right now, it's in a state of flux and in time conditions will improve on their own. Do they suck now? You bet they do. However, the alternative to the millions of jobs in these factories that can kindly be described as sweatshops are no jobs at all. There is no quick fix. Right now they are in the middle of some pretty bad growing pains but those too shall pass and when they do the Chinese people and economy will be better off for it.

There is a solution that is very quick and easy: force the companies to stop being greedy.

This doesn't work. If we force that much change overnight the system collapses. At best things stay the same, but more likely we take massive steps backward. Instead of people working in terrible conditions to eat and have shelter, we have these same people unable to afford food or shelter at all. "Forcing the companies to stop being greedy" is not a solution. It is an emotional outburst that solves nothing.

However, that emotional weight is not a bad thing. If you actually care, channel that raw emotion into an effort to improve the world. Work to understand the problem as best you can so you can so you can identify actual solutions. This is not a problem with an overnight solution. The only way this is going to be fixed is if people who care lead us through a gradual process of social change, working to promote and develop social programs, technologies, and international laws that can help the poor of the world improve their standard of living.

If you actually care.

 

[Something Amyss]

Can't western governments ban companies from dealing with Foxconn? No, wait, that would mean putting human rights before profit, and that would be communism.

It would also mean not letting the free market decide, and that's also communism.

 

[Something Amyss]

If you think the chinese prefer having Foxconn to living on the streets, why are so many of them killing themselves?

Probably because Foxconn doesn't let you quit. It's like the Mafia, only without the benefits.

 

[Urgh76]

Just when you got back on track Nintendo.

 

[Something Amyss]

There is a solution that is very quick and easy: force the companies to stop being greedy.

That's a solution only if you ignore the part where it's completely unrealistic and implausible to get to that point "quick" OR "easy."

The problem here is that it's a largely societal outlook, one where you have to make obscene profits and increase over last year. We are so competitive we even compete with ourselves, and while we may be one of the best (or worst) examples, we're not alone in this world.

You simply don't change society overnight, and it's naive to pretend that you do.

That's not to say I want corporations to work people to the point of suicide, but we have to address some very real problems with our thinking before we can make any serious change. Even preventing American companies from outsourcing to such companies would require a major sea change in politics to get there.

This is not a simple thing to do. The fact is, the mindset of MILLIONS of people must change, across multiple cultures. You're fighting against the "free enterprise" and "free market" people, the folks who benefit, and multiple cultures with little respect for human dignity.