- 14 Oct 2015 01:26
#14609762
It is undeniable that the standards of living enjoyed by workers in the west today is much greater than in the past. However, this increase in standards of living has a sinister cause. We live in an age where consumer goods sell for shockingly low prices, this is not due to an overflow of capitalist benevolence. The ability of the average western worker to purchase these goods, is due to the nature of their production. The majority of clothes, TVs etc. which are sold in western countries are produced by Asian workers who endure appalling conditions. The low pay and lack of protections which are received by Asian workers mean that the goods can be sold cheaply overseas. In other words, the rise in living standards of the western worker can be blamed on the exploitation of the eastern worker. If the majority of consumer goods where produced in countries with harsh labour laws, the prices of such goods would inevitably rise.
taltom wrote:Here in the States, at least for a few decades, the working class enjoyed a substantial standard of living, with TVs, cars, mortgages, clean water, and many other things that working people in other nations could only covet from afar. In effect, the working class saw itself as the owner class in miniature: they might not be able to afford a yacht, but a bass boat was a satisfactory substitute. Labor even managed to get itself onto a few governing boards.
But observe that this dynamic is not inevitable. The typical German worker, for example, enjoys a rather high standard of living, and his labor unions do not have to mount savage attacks on their employers.
It is undeniable that the standards of living enjoyed by workers in the west today is much greater than in the past. However, this increase in standards of living has a sinister cause. We live in an age where consumer goods sell for shockingly low prices, this is not due to an overflow of capitalist benevolence. The ability of the average western worker to purchase these goods, is due to the nature of their production. The majority of clothes, TVs etc. which are sold in western countries are produced by Asian workers who endure appalling conditions. The low pay and lack of protections which are received by Asian workers mean that the goods can be sold cheaply overseas. In other words, the rise in living standards of the western worker can be blamed on the exploitation of the eastern worker. If the majority of consumer goods where produced in countries with harsh labour laws, the prices of such goods would inevitably rise.
"Auntie did you feel no pain, falling from the apple tree? Would you do it please again? Cos my friend here didn't see." Harry Graham