Reply #55: Where did I say anything of the sort? [View All]

[Libertarialoon]

I don't advocate slave labor or child labor, but I am a realist. If you had the choice between sending your four kids to work in a factory, or having the family starve to death, what would you do? That's an unfortunate fact in most of the third world. Of course, every parent wants their children to be able to attend school instead of working 70 hour workweeks, but first people need to eat and have a place to live.

The ironic thing is that the very same people who decry the outsourcing of American jobs are denying the opportunity for people in the third world to better thenselves economically.

In the name of "cheap stuff?" Human rights are human rights. You don't give them a buy because the factory is in China, or Indonesia, or wherever.

Our demand for cheap stuff is what employs workers all over the world. Without "cheap stuff" many of these people would die. Human rights take a back seat to the ability to put food on the table. I'd guarantee that nearly every employee of the sweat shops you're decrying would support my position over yours. Good to see you're so concerned about the welfare of the truly poor.

Your argument veers dangerously close to racism.

Of course. Play the racism card. As soon as your position becomes untenable, you can always end the debate by calling someone a racist. As an ardent supporter of free trade, I am much more concerned about the plight of the poverty-stricken around the world than you seem to be. It's easier to say "think of the poor children" than it is to address the realities that these people have no choice in the matter. The only way to improve their conditions is for businesses to continue to invest in their countries and make more opportunities available to them instead of worrying about the miniscule number of American jobs being exported overseas.