Being American, I normally take things for granted. I can go to the store and splurge on a couple CDs (the new Eagles album and the re-mastered NWA hit “Straight Outta Compton” are out now), some video games (that feature rabid bunnies, talking balloons, and murderous undead minions), and a 99-in-one device called the Magic Bullet. I don’t need these things to survive, but I take them for granted. I forget the majority of the world can’t splurge on such items. I do admit that it is a bad habit that we as a country have, but not one we should obsess about with every second of our waking day. We should try to make a difference though. The big question is rather than what can we do, what should we do?
Can one do more damage trying to help someone, than if they didn’t do anything at all? If this is possible, how do we know whether or not we are making the right decision? Naomi Klein, a socialistic journalist, talks about the decaying garment district of Toronto and the sweatshops in Jakarta and how the two are intertwined in her essay “A Web of Brands”. In “Live Free and Starve”, Chitra Divakaruni, an educated Indian immigrant, states that while Americans hear of children sweatshops, their actions to stop these actually are hurting those they are trying to protect. Klein talks of the old industrial garment factories of Toronto and the shame that some are being turned into expensive lofts, rather than being used. She depicts artists and designers living next to old-fashioned garment stores. Klein then jumps to Jakarta, where she talks to workers, whom work for next to nothing, making coats and computers they will never wear nor use. Klein protests the rich CEOs getting wealthier and wealthier off of the work done by temporary workers. Divakaruni writes, from her own unique perspective, about the picture painted to “help” those harmed by child labor, whereas it is in fact hurting them. She states that while they are being paid less than they should, they are helping their family with their pay thereby ensuring they don’t have to live on the streets. Divakaruni remembers Nimai’s, her family’s boy servant, sense of pride over those that begged, he walking a bit taller because he was a responsible family member. She finishes by making the reader think about not only calling for the end of child labor, but also a better life for the children. While sweatshops and child labor are evils in the world today that most want to eradicate, we should take heed of Divakaruni’s message and figure out the best method possible to ensure the well being of the victims of those evils.
In “A Web of Brands” Klein’s overall message is that while it is sad that an industry has declined, but what is worse is that the job has been outsourced to a third world country where the workers are paid next to nothing. Divakaruni’s message in “Live Free and Starve” is a little more chilling. She states that while a bill proposed to hinder child labor practices has good intentions, the general American public doesn’t realize it may actually do more harm than good. Divakaruni muses, “when many of these children turn to the streets to survival through thievery and violence and begging and prostitution – as surely in the absence of other options they must – are we willing to shoulder that responsibility?” Both author’s messages come in two parts, though Klein’s is focused more on the location of the problem, rather than making the audience think deeper about the solution to the problem, like Divakaruni’s does.
Both authors use narratives to support their arguments, but Divakaruni’s account is more founded than Klein’s. Klein remembers, “I started to tell the Kaho workers that my apartment in Toronto used to be a London Fog coat factory but stopped abruptly when it became clear from their facial expressions that the idea of anyone choosing to live in a garment building was nothing but alarming.” Her narration about her trip to Jakarta places her as an outsider, a visitor, a journalist. Divakaruni remembers, “When the [children’s] hunger was too much to bear, they stole into the neighbors’ fields and ate whatever they could find … even though they knew they’d be beaten for it.” Her account has more credibility because she grew up there. This was the norm; she was an insider, a participant.
Klein and Divakaruni give us insight into the worker’s lives. Divakaruni confirms the stereotype of child labor, in which children “spend their days in dark, ill-ventilated rooms doing work that damages their eyes and lungs.” But she also tells us of Nimai, who worked for her family, doing chores around the house, but being treated very justly by her family, more so than the majority of child laborers. She remembers Nimai “thought he was a responsible member of his family”, because he could help his family out with his earnings. Klein, on the other hand, tells of workers who, because of bad conditions, went on strike. Rather than fix those conditions, Klein reports, “overtime would no longer be compulsory but the compensation would remain illegally low.” While Klein, because of her Western upbringing, portrays everything in a negative light, Divakaruni, while maintaining her stance that child labor is bad, does show her audience a slightly positive side to the situation and the danger of fixing it with another problem.
Before reading these works, I was under the opinion that there was nothing we could do to stop poor labor conditions, for both children and adults. Corporations are always out to make a profit, so bids will always go to the lowest production company, be it here in the U.S. or in China. Now I believe we can do something, moved by both Klein and Divakaruni, but we need to study the situation thoroughly to see how best we can help these workers lead a better life before we set a plan into motion. Just like a marathon runner plans every leg of the race and not just the first mile, we should too. Americans should stop thinking that there is nothing they can do, stop accepting the fact that the world is full of suffering, stop sitting in the sunshine, drinking five dollar mint chocolate Frappuccino® and actually get up and better inform themselves and others about our world’s plights. Yes, Our world, because we all live here and it’s the only one we have.
"Future generations may well have occasion to ask themselves, "What were our parents thinking? Why didn't they wake up when they had a chance?" We have to hear that question from them, now." - Al Gore
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