Sweatshop labor - Essay Example

The facts are evidenced in how 7 percent of trade around the globe today is with counterfeit goods. (Thomas, p 2). This type of manufacture of goods is involved with such tragedies as child labor, abusive conditions, along with ties to terrorism and organized crime. Law mentions how counterfeiting results in more than just low wages, but in manipulation and funneling of monies into illegal activities that pose as significant threats to society as a whole (Thomas, p. 2) Conditions that children workers are made to endure are horrific by any reasonable person’s standard.

In fact, it should shock the conscience of U.S. consumers and businesspeople alike. One example that Dana Thomas found in Thailand was a plant that had young children who were being forced to make counterfeit handbags for sale to the more developed lands such as the United States. The children had their legs intentionally broken by sweatshop owners and placed in such a manner that no healing of the broken limbs would occur. The owners did this to force the children to work against their will in the production of counterfeit goods (Thomas, p.1). Advanced nations like America are contributing to the problem of sweatshop labor and seeking low cost goods at the expense of human health and decency issues.

This is a major society problem as Jim Hightower points to in his article “The Price of Cheap Goods”. One issue that Hightower points out is that America has such a demand for low-cost labor that critical safeguards for workers are being ignored or bypassed simply due to economic demand and pressure for ever more cheaper labor costs and higher profits for the American based companies (Hightower, p.1) One example that Hightower mentions is that research at one Hong Kong area factory discovered that the workers at the plant will break or