Ahh I've enjoyed (if that's the correct word) watching the previous series Blood Sweat and T-shirts and Blood Sweat and Takeaways. I think they give us an important insight into the situations which less fortunate people are in, but still present a balanced view without being preachy and overtly anti-globalization.

I don't want to give the impression, especially in this rough crowd, that I'm the arrogant American, but... As something of a history buff/off and on student I see, as appalling as they are, parallels with what every one of the worlds more 'advanced' nations went through, as regards labor (or should I spell it labour) conditions on their way to the top. Throughout history there has never seemed to be a way around that route. Love it or hate it, there are few alternative other than living with it.

Also, and it's trite but also true, without that pittance, most would have nothing at all. Perhaps, a strict birth control policy would be one way of countering the trend. In many of these 3rd world countries, rampant population growth seems to be a, if not the, major contributor to poverty.

These conditions may be an object lesson that some cultures are better left alone in their primitive state if our conceit would allow it. 'Civilization' as we know it ain't always what it's cracked up to be. However I guess that except with a very few Amazon tribes that's night unto impossible now.

Originally Posted by Don

I don't want to give the impression, especially in this rough crowd, that I'm the arrogant American, but... As something of a history buff/off and on student I see, as appalling as they are, parallels with what every one of the worlds more 'advanced' nations went through, as regards labor (or should I spell it labour) conditions on their way to the top. Throughout history there has never seemed to be a way around that route. Love it or hate it, there are few alternative other than living with it.

Heaven forbid that we'd think that Don, not just of you but of any American But you are quite right, every nation that I can think of went through that period in their history where cheap labour was used in huge quantities and many people worked in often appalling conditions. I know many say it was simply exploitation, but I think there's more to it than simply greed by the relatively few factory owners there were in those times. It was also a reflection of the massive economic growth at certain periods in history when new manufacturing and production techniques meant that the population as a whole could avail themselves of so much more than they'd ever been used to having, and the resultant demand meant that flat out production was the only way forward. Under the conditions which prevailed at the time; i.e., human life was considered relatively cheap, there was no such thing as health and safety, there wasn't the mobility in society etc., etc., it's inevitable that there would be a very considerable time lag until working conditions became better.

Also, and it's trite but also true, without that pittance, most would have nothing at all. Perhaps, a strict birth control policy would be one way of countering the trend. In many of these 3rd world countries, rampant population growth seems to be a, if not the, major contributor to poverty.

Indeed, and that's one of the arguments which I've used elsewhere for both maintaining a lot of mass production in countries with much lower labour costs, and for not upsetting the balance of wages, or social conditions, poor as they might be, by paying those workers any more than they might expect if they were working for local employers.

These conditions may be an object lesson that some cultures are better left alone in their primitive state if our greed would allow it. 'Civilization' as we know it ain't always what it's cracked up to be. However I guess that except with a very few Amazon tribes that's night unto impossible now.

I have to agree with you there, even the most well-meaning of external influences can have sometimes disproportionately adverse effects on relatively primitive cultures, and the resultant dichotomy in their society can often tear it apart.