finally got around to watching this news blurb about apple's factory in china. workers at Foxconn make $1.70 something an hour, lunch costs 0.30, and rent to live in a communal dorm room with thousands of other people is $17 a month. in China Foxconn is considered a great place to work! the news report made me wonder about all the other multitude of things i buy that come from china... i wondered how those workers fare, what they're getting paid, and the dangers they're exposed too. do they even know how dangerous their work is? the list is endless from the iPad i'm typing on now, to paddles, SUPs, kayaks, surfboards, one mans, clothes, etc. how many people have gotten sick, poisoned, or died to make the things i want affordable? i'm sure there are those on ocpaddler that will second gues my motivations for posting this subject matter. it's not my intention to call any one person out. but as i lay here next to my 20 month old son who's taking a nap, it's crazy to think that he's also reaping the benefits of all this work on the other side of the planet. i've already unwittingly introduced him into a life where he's addicted to these cheap products. a life where the cost of a product should not just be measured in dollars, but also by the toll it takes on environment he'll inherit, and by how a product affects the health of other humans living half way around the world.
time for me to take a nap on my foreign made foam mattress. i hope no one got sick making it. how crazy is it that the thoughts which fill my day are things like: should i run errands, get ready to fly to work tomorrow, buy another one man, take my son to the beach in my car, buy an $8 plate lunch, or get a shiny new 3-man? all things that will cost me days, weeks, or years worth of a Foxconn employee's wages. having my son has changed me a lot. sheesh.
EDIT: changed the title from "working in china" to "lucky you get what you get" since people are probably avoiding the post based on the title alone. i assume many paddlers are thinking this is some attempt to slander china made boats, which it isn't.
Submitted by jc9_0 on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 3:13pm
World gone crazy...
#1 Tue, 02/28/2012 - 7:35pm
JC9_0,
"having my son has changed me a lot. sheesh."
It only grows stronger bra.... please call me sometime ....www.onnopaddles.com
aloha,
pog
#2 Tue, 02/28/2012 - 8:52pm
This video made me more dedicated to buying things that are made in the USA. We desperately need to bring the work back to the states.
#3 Wed, 02/29/2012 - 3:22am
We are all connected, what we do affects everything around us, plants, animals and people alike. We must make decisions that come from not only the mind (or what makes economic sense), but from the heart and the soul, the na'au.
#4 Wed, 02/29/2012 - 4:22pm