There are so many negative issues surrounding free trade, yet I can’t see how we can live without it. Americans pride themselves in doing things cheap, fast, and in mass production. We have always been trying of find ways to do things more efficiently. That is why we have things like assembly lines and computers. It seems that no one can win. It doesn’t seem to be possible to have cheap goods AND have them manufactured in a proper sweat-shop free manner. I don’t know how much of the articles to believe though. The conditions of these sweat-shops could be exaggerated. I’m sure they are still awful but what would these people in third world countries be doing if they didn’t work? Is making some money worse than begging on the streets? I know it’s not right that they work in these conditions but how do the most workers view it? Maybe they are happy for the opportunity to have an income. I think a solution would just be to improve the working conditions. That way these job opportunities are still available.
My junior year of high school I watched and wrote an essay on a documentary called Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices. The entire film was just facts and figures bashing Wal-Mart from every angle. It even went as far to report how many women are attacked in Wal-Mart parking lots because they don’t pay for someone to watch those security cameras. The documentary did however convince me to stop shopping at Wal-Mart, but that didn’t last long; within a few months I was back. It is hard resist the fact that things cost a lot less there. It’s so easy to forget all the negative sides because they don’t affect you directly; all you see is the amazing prices.
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That's a good point about the exaggerations. What makes these facts any more accurate than any others? I'm sure there is truth behind the blood and sweat, but I doubt that there are as many as they make it seem.
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