I suspect this line was usd by Peter Sellers as Mr. Kite, the shop steward in “I’m alright Jack”.
It certainly used to produce guffaws years ago whenever quoted as a parody of the average trades union moaner.
But when we were in Shanghai last year a friend told me that the poor sods who put together the stuff there are told to “work harder – or you will be looking hard for work”.
Not long ago a big piece in the Evening Standard about fashion week talked about how the stuff you buy for sod-all from places like Primark, Top Shop, Bhs etc. is produced by people who work for as little as 40p a day in conditions that often lead to deaths and injuries.
I was discussing this with the Light of my Life, and said, “Well, maybe these people are happier with that rather than nothing.”
This may be true, but she put me right smartly.
“Look. You can always beat these people down in price. They are usually helpless and frightened. In Cuba we could quite easily have beaten down people from $3 to $2 for a shared taxi ride – but it was wrong.”
She’s right of course. But I don’t think the people who run these big fashion firms give a shit about anything except where their next billion is coming from – and beating the competition.
“There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money” is something Dr. Johnson said which I think was plain wrong.
Consider, for instance, King Leopold of Belgium, who enslaved most of the people in the Congo to satisfy his bestial cupidity – an approach its rulers since independence have followed with such zeal that it remains one of the most destitute places on earth.
Churchill said “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others.” I think that is true of free enterprise, having seen communism in action.
But why can’t all the filthy rich just occasionally ask themselves what is the right thing to do?
Hi Drayton
Brilliant piece, exploitation seems to be rife (I know it always has been) but surely as more of us have become better educatated you would have thought we could try and think of better ways to share our prosperity, this would surely benefit us all and the environment.
Instead of a few taking it all perhaps if we start to look at things more locally (but apply this all over the world) then we could start to make a difference. I know it sounds very “Good Life” but if we started to grow more of our own produce or use our local butchers, bakers etc (encourage third world countries to adopt this as well) then perhaps the big corporate machines may have to slow down. I relaise that a lot of people are reliant on the big companies (along with the global economies) to survive both here and in the rest of the world but perhaps if a few more people start to question the rates of pay and conditions that the workers have to put up with especially abroad along with the massive profits made for the shareholders. Then they may look at reducing their margins and increasing the benefits to all (I have really lost it now), I know it sounds very utopian but it would be better if we all just sat back and looked at what we have plus the short amount of time we have and try and see if we could help others…
Sorry for the Monday morning rant and flights into the realms of fiction… 😉
Cheers
Michael
ps check this out of you want a quick example of decadence…
http://www.happydude.co.uk/?p=177
CREATION INC.
God plays dice
to see what happens
when a coin is flipped
Dear Drayton (great blog),
All my life I have struggled to make sense of the experience of existing (I bet this is true of most pilgrims- as John Wayne might have said before he became not).
I have come to this conclusion..
A DISPOSABLE UNIVERSE IS PUSHED TO IT’S LIMITS (for an awful long time) TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS AND IT’S ALL OK BECAUSE THE INDESTRUCTABLE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT (of which we are all part) REMAINS.. AFTER THE DUST HAS SETTLED.
Of course we all still try for the best, and in doing so change nothing – which, I guess, is something.
Keep up the good work,
John
PS
Using your advice on SIMPLICITY of presentation I have just set up a small market test..
Well said Drayton. I think these shops should be made to put a poster on the wall stating exactly where each thing they’re selling is made and the hourly pay of the workers.
And the supermarkets should be made to do the same too.
Michael – it is a nice idea you have about growing our own stuff and getting third world countries to do the same too. But you may not be aware that the world’s supermarkets took all their best land years ago.
You are right though – more needs to be done. More and more people are becoming aware of Fair Trade, and we need to put pressure on the big stores to sell more of them.
I’m tired of going into Tesco hand having to reach for one of only three Cafe Direct’s from the Top Shelf. Or discover that they’ve put the very few packs of fair trade bananas beside some similarly packaged ones to confuse people.