Exploitation

I notice a great deal of publicity to third world “exploitation of workers, to the direct benefit of greedy westerners, who neither know, nor care of the hardship and misery etc. ad- infinatum, that is caused by it.”

The only way for the third, or developing world to advance is by producing products and services that people there or in other countries need and are prepared to pay for, or securing investment capital, which will allow them to do this.

This starts the process of paying for jobs, and causes an immediate benefit to those who do them, and for the suppliers of raw materials for the process, transporters and so on. This does not stop there, as extra money in the pocket is not in itself a benefit, the benefit is in what can be obtained from it, either immediately in food clothing housing, and so on, as well as future benefits that savings can bring.

By this process others benefit by providing goods and services, accessing saved funds by borrowing, or from investment by the savers, passing the benefit further. With each step someone benefits from his own work, passes on that benefit from the work of others, who go on to do the same into infinity.

Low pay is an issue often mentioned. Actual pay figures quoted for developing countries are irrelevant unless taken in the context of the economic situation in those countries as a whole. It is ok to say that the average worker in some place or other only gets x dollars per week or month, but the matter of significant importance is not the amount, but what that amount will buy in that country, and then only in the context of the general standard of living in that country.

We have all seen the type of documentry that features some unfortunate people in some poor country going out into the desert to chip salt and cart it in for a pittance. We all feel sorry for them, but they do this because that is a better option than the others available to them, sad but true. This is because of the poverty of the countries involved, the lack of economic development and opportunity, and in many cases the result of poor governance.

In far too many cases, the passed on economic benefit referred to above is hijacked along the way, not by private enterprise thieves, but by government thieves ripping the people off to engage in activities which are in many cases corrupt, of no benefit to the people from whom it came, and designed to benefit their own supporters and to keep themselves in power.

This is not our fault, unless we have allowed our governments to interfere in the political process there. It is the fault of the people in charge there and to some extent the culture there that allows such people to retain power.

Foreign aid can help to some extent, as can charitable foundations, but the fact is that the only way to make a lasting difference is for the people themselves to do it. If the whole GDP of the west was poured into the third world the results would probably be; impoverishment for us, some very rich dictators with wealthy hangers on, and sleek well-fed armies with excellent equipment, to keep the people in their place.

The best way that the world can help the developing countries is to trade with them on equitable terms, invest in industry and infrastructure, and in doing so improve the lot of thousands of people in the long term, however, for this to happen investors must have stability and security.

Such stability and security can, for this purpose only come from a fair society, where human rights were respected, as dealing with brutal repressive regimes, is likely to cause a consumer backlash against those companies doing it. Modern consumer ethics and the rapidity of communications virtually guarantee that they could not get away with it for any length of time.