maggiel: doesn't everyone love being beaten?

and for the record, i don't shop at the gap. just because it came up.

I shop at the Gap. Like Tony said, I wouldn't want those gook's good work to go unused - after all, they put blood, sweat and probably a finger or two into making my socks and pants.

For God's sake, think of the children!

I do. Every time I slip on my Air Jordans. Those little buggers really did a good job on them!

Exploit shmexploit. I bet they'll thank us for it in 20 years, when the money we've saved has gone into technology that can put their hands back on.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

i don't know why i find you so hilarious. but i do.

I'm a big fan of education, but there's really nothing better than getting out there, getting your hands dirty (or cut off), and getting some good solid work experience. By the time that kid graduates from high school, he's gonna have a good 15 years in at the factory...and he could use that as a bargaining chip to find a better factory job. When that kid graduates from high school, he could have a nice respectable job making $30 a week! And when the per capita income is $372 in Vietnam*, that guy is rich!

(*--US State Department, 1999 info)

one proven fact....... if nike reduced their advertising budget by 4% every worker in indonesia would go from poverty to middle class..........

How in the world is this a proven fact? If we were in court, I would definitely object on the grounds of speculation.
Let's assume that a clothing brand produced by an ex-talkshow hostess or even a highly paid basketball player weren't made in the sweat shops over there, but here in the states. First, the price would be marked up a bit more to cover the labor cost. Secondly, the people (assume several hundred) working the shop would be out of work, leaving their families to do without. They could work the fields and farm, assuming the job is there.

Is your solution to pay them American minimum wage?

And all this on top of the fact that the indigenous people aren't complaining too loudly about the jobs they have.

Yes, but if the advertising budget when down, they'd have to fire some of those adorable little gookies, 'cause they wouldn't be selling as many shoes. Now THAT would be awful.

SOrry but jokes aside in this thread - this comment was jsut stupid - how the FUCK woud you know what an indonesian farm labourer is complaining about, how loudly, and whether he was allowed to or not - the world isn't on fox news you know.

Alright, jaquar, let's move this one a little closer to the states then. There are the same types of shops set up in Mexico; in fact there are some in just across the river from El Paso, close enough to throw rocks through the windows if one were so inclined. Now I may not have been all across the world, but I <b>have</b> been to Mexico. These things are pathetic, dirty, hot and terrible places to work (by my standards). I have no idea how they might even compare to the factories in the Orient or Asia. I <b>do</b> know that the people are there by choice, and most of them are proud to have the job that isn't nearly as back-breaking as someone who has to plow a field with century-old farming techniques.
So, no, I wouldn't know what the <b>FUCK</b> an Indonesian Farm laborer is complaining about, though I do know it's not loud enough for me to hear.

"Profanity is the crutch of inarticulate motherfuckers."

Who was joking?

Shhh. Someone might not know they have it bad if you guys post loud enough.

I was kinda wondering if anyone would ever get around to asking the folks who are supposedly downtrodden whether they'd prefer the lives they had before such international atrocities. Why do they make shoes? Is it because their other choice was sadistic torture - or because their other choice was dirt farming?

If it were the former, would the armchair concerned amongst us be angling for Nike to move its factories overseas. And take advantage of that cheap labor - at any cost - to improve their lives, open up the possibilities.

I was also kinda wondering if there ARE any Americans, other than immigrants, who would accept a job such as making shoes. From what I understand, there are a lot of communities in the US where illegal labor does the work, not because the work doesn't pay enough, but because nobody else will DO it. This is a different world from 50 years ago.

I don't do anything that the nigs, chinks, gooks and spicks can do - I figure they need the money to feed their 19 children more than I do, anyway. That's why I only take jobs where a brain is required - Pizza Hut cook, for example. I prefer that the kids do the easy stuff - making shoes and whatnot, etc - so that the big ones can mop the floors. Handling a wet mop can be quite a chore for a 4 year old.

Anyway, that's how I feel about these jobs - we got enough illegal aliens anyway, why not put 'em to work?

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I heard Tyson foods got busted for bringing in illegals. Tyson is in my neck of the woods, so I can't help but wonder if the twenty or so hispanics that live in the small house next to my friends place will be leaving soon. Can't say I'd miss that carousel music that is continously blaring over there if it were gone tomorrow. Of course who will throw rocks at passing cars if they're kids are gone? This sounds like I'm siting stereotypes, but no, I'm giving eyewitness testimony.