Posted on 05/03/2013 1:09:31 PM PDT by Kaslin
You are ridiculous *rme*
An unlimited flow of cheap crap. The new American system.
What do you know? The new Pope is a Communist.
There are 100's of thousands in this world who would risk their lives to work in this factory for half as much.
There is a kingdom, not of this world.
Does anyone know how extensive Walmart operations were in this building?
As soon as the RCC began advocating for Obamacare, I knew what side is was on.
I wouldn’t expect the Pope necessarily to understand economics but I would have thought Buchanan knew better than this.
And you are full of it. *rme*
In defense of the Pope, he was making this observation in the context of a factory building collapse that had killed hundreds of people. I suspect his comment was about the working conditions, not the wages.
In that case, it doesn't matter if they're getting paid $40/month or $40,000/month. The economic aspect of this story is secondary, isn't it?
note: the article is by Pat Buchanan, he only quotes the Pope, briefly, at the start.
What Pat seems to forget is that the elimination of tarriffs have as part of their root the combination of high prices and poor quality driven by Union Labor in the US. Americans wanted to buy Japanese cars and electronics (Pat only sticks to textiles and avoids having to point out that the issue is larger and more complex) not only because they were cheaper, but also better than their US made counterparts.
More tariffs (taxes) is his solution? Just another old fool who thinks that more money for the government is the solution to everything.
Perhaps the Pope should stick to spiritual matters rather than economic ones. The people in low wage countries are not prisoners, they are not starving. The wages they receive are livable in those locations. If they dont like the work they can try to get a different job. Furthermore, we are not responsible for building codes in haiti or India. Its not our fault some dimwit engineer inspected the building and declared it safe just before it collapsed.
What people don’t realize is that people voluntarily leave their farms and come to these factories because the jobs there are - better - than what they had at home.
Just as they did in England during the Industrial Revolution.
But living conditions in peasant villages in 1800 England or 2013 Bangladesh are “quaint,” and we can idealize it, and anyway they’re back in the boonies where we don’t have to look at them.
People said - exactly - the same thing about factories in Japan, S. Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc. Now those countries have worked their way above the entry level and are producing, or beginning to produce, good jobs and lives for their citizens.
It seems conservatives can accept that individuals may have to work their way up, but have trouble recognizing that countries do too. Liberals can’t recognize this necessity at all.
What’s the alternative? Giving people or countries stuff. Which at best has not proven itself to be a desirable alternative.
Exactly! Thanks for putting into words what I was groping for.
Capitalism extends naturally from God’s laws of private property...
do not steal and do not covet.
Christians, a fortiori the Pope — have the right and the duty to speak out on moral issues. Pope Francis is well within his competence in pointing out that a reductionist view of human life in which everything must give way to the free market is anti-human and irrational.
Free markets are a tool to produce useful information. When they become a religion or ideology they are out of control.
I had read recently that the textile industry in Bangladesh receives special government advantages and it’s power is very influential there.
I would not look only at the wage issue in a developing country. Look at the corruption, and the ways that the rich people there are putting their thumb on the scales, not practicing real free market capitalism.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.