Rotten Desi Plutocrats

This is the cultural rot of superiority and entitlement. They probably wouldn’t be able to do this in an Indian city because the demand gives workers some leverage despite the lack of labor regulations. Even their fellow Western plutocrats generally keep their exploitation of impoverished people at least marginally above slavery – unless, of course, trafficking is among their business practices. I’m sure Switzerland has a healthy pool of domestic labor like the rest of the global north, the only reason they’d bring workers in from India is to use them without the protections of the country’s labor laws.

Ethiopia Touts Good Conditions in Factories for Brands Like H&M and Calvin Klein, but Workers Scrape By on $1 a Day

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Globalization has come to Ethiopia in the form of the garment industry. This time it looks shiny, is housed in robust buildings and even uses renewable energy – because it is cheap. Still, the tradition of a much-less-than-living wage for the workers is maintained, as is the tradition of taking advantage of the host country’s need for development to strong-arm it into providing special benefits and breaks.

This is a “fascinating” glimpse of how globalization comes to be implemented in the Global South. The immediate effect on the local economy turns out to be undesirable for all parties – some more than others of course.

Ethiopia Touts Good Conditions in Factories for Brands Like H&M and Calvin Klein, but Workers Scrape By on $1 a Day