Purchasing sweat shop products - quandary?

Question

Ok, so i'm going to pose the question - If people stop buying sweatshop made stuff, what then happens to those people who rely on that (meagre) income. Are we such utopians that we think that by boycotting, it will lead to better conditions? And another question - if you buy something that was originally sweatshop made (eg Nikes) , but purchased them second hand, does that negate any impact?

Answer 1

Consider this.  If everyone stopped buying or using products made in sweatshops or third world countries, most companies would go broke from lack of sales, since most companies use these places to make their products. It's a price we pay for the ability to buy cheap products with high priced names on them. Yes these countries can use the work and pay but we feed their needs because we benefit and want those things. No one wants to admit it's our own desire for these things that cause those problems.  

Answer 2

NO .BUT WHAT APPEARS AMUSING TO ME IS THAT FAR EAST COUNTRIES ARE NOW SHIPPING THEIR WORK ORDERS TO OLD IRON CURTAIN BLOCK COUNTRIES BECAUSE OF ITS CHEAP LABOR. AIN'T THAT A HOOT.

Answer 3

Yes the sweatshop factories bring income to otherwise impoverished areas but it's still exploitation of humans, thus you may rationalize it but you can't justify it.

Answer 4

They loose the best job they could find.

Answer 5

Either the factories will close and the workers will move out, or the factories will improve their conditions. If the boycott was large enough, the factories might actually improve conditions at the urging of their government. Politics plays a huge role in sweat shop conditions.

If you buy something second hand, it does negate the impact because the full impact was had at the time of purchase. However, you might feel bad wearing that brand and "promoting" it as you walk down the street.

Answer 6

Well this may sound insensitive and even counterproductive, but people have never had a history of buying things because doing so would help others. For instance, I don't wear Nike because I believe it shows a desperate weakness and insecurity in an attempt to "be cool." Plus I just don't think they are very well-made shoes. Of course I am not going to buy shoes I think are lame and poorly made just to help those in low income countries, I don't think anyone would.

Ideally, what a boycott of Nike would eventually lead to is a significant decline in sales. If it did enough damage, Nike would have to address the boycott and find out why no one was buying its shoes. If the popular sentiment (that people don't want to buy products made by workers who suffer human rights abuses) became clearer to Nike, they would have to make changes. A decline in sales would most definitely impact the lives of the workers in low income countries, but it could be justified by the fact that it would eventually lead to a lasting improvement in their working conditions.

In other words. If Nike thought that the decline in sales had something to do with poor marketing on their part, or rising gas costs in the west, or competition from another shoe manufacturer, they would address these issues (by changing their marketing strategy, lowering the price of their shoes, coming out with a brand new pair to compete with the other shoe manufacturer). Similarly, if Nike truly believed that the reason their sales were hurt is because people resent the way they treat their workers, they would have no choice but to address that situation, by increasing their workers' pay and improving their work conditions.

I don't think this will ever happen, because not enough people care about what happens to the citizens of low income countries.

Tough decision. As you said, this small amount of money is all these people are able to make in Indonesia and places like that. Though boycotting Nike means you are at least not participating in the exploitation of these people, you are making it clear that you do not condone it, and you have less blood on your hands. "Bearing witness," as Ward Churchill would say. Does it help? Who knows?