John Henry:
>On the other hand, to many people, what we see as "sweatshops" appear to be
>the proverbial golden paving blocks. In other words, it is the opportunity
>to raise themselves from an even worse existence. For example, there have
>been a couple of notes about the Maquiladoras in Mexico. Yet nobody is
>forcing the workers to go there. Yes, conditions appear pretty horrible to
>Americans, but without the maquiladoras, what would these people do?
>Subsistence farming generation after generation?
It is very simple. Peasants should have the free choice to either remain in
the countryside and farm or to move to the city and make a living in a
maquila. For the choice to be free, their land must not be purchased by
multinationals producing export crops like tomatoes or flowers. In order
for this to happen, the government must be pro-Mexico rather than pro-Wall
Street. Every single Mexican government since the 1930s has been pro-Wall
Street rather than pro-Mexico.
>I've lived in Puerto Rico for the past 30 years. When I came here, it was
>pretty third world. It still has a long ways to go but the progress has
>been incredible (in part due to US subsidies both direct and via tax
>relief, thank you all very much)
Puerto Rico is a colony. Democracy and colonialism are incompatible.
>My father-in-law is in his late 80's now. He was one of 17 children. My
>mother in law was one of 15. Both grew up in grinding poverty which even I,
>having seen the poverty that used to exist on the island, can barely
>imagine. His principle source of income was cutting cane at about 25 cents
>a day and not even year round.
Cutting cane? This is called slaving for agribusiness, not subsistence
farming.
>On the other hand, when Wal-Mart stopped carrying the Cathie Lee Gifford
>clothes, the workers would up out of work and in much worse condition. Read
>about OxFam's findings in that Paul Krugman article Louis Proyect posted
>from Sunday's NY Times.
John, you are going to have to work much harder to win people over to
Reaganomics. This is a very sophisticated crowd you are speaking to.
Michael Perelman, the moderator, has written books dealing with these sorts
of questions since the early 1990s. Your arguments are strictly Readers Digest.
Louis Proyect
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