Jeez, the irony is, that kind of corporate abuse might have produced pro-Communist sentiment here in the US (and I imagine it definitely did back in the day --
The Jungle was primarily a Socialist document from what I recall). Tiananmen Square didn't work out so well, so I wonder what's left as far as solutions to the kind of situations utunnels brought up. I can think of only two:
1. A progressive similar to Teddy Roosevelt coming into power through the already-established channels, and then proceeding to bust some stuff up.
2. Western consumers ending purchase of certain Chinese exports produced in these areas. But that might hurt these people even more, since they depend on these facilities for what little income they have to begin with. Though I wonder if simply returning to the land and living without money would provide a better standard of living anyway.
I wonder what kind of interaction the people who have to work in pollution-heavy areas in China have with the local government? It's interesting how little even PoliSci students in the US learn about Chinese government (I would hope International Studies students fare better). From what little I learned, I take it government is a sort of "top-down" thing, with local officials being appointed by higher-ups in most cases.
EDIT: Although, supposing corporations have free reign over their operations in China, another way of solving this might be through corporate...re-culturing, however that would go. I just read an article on that blog utunnels provided, about a case where
dozens of workers were injured after using a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. It wasn't an industry-standard process, but rather an efficiency measure imposed by the factory manager according to the story. Where are these managers, and upper level management for that matter,
trained?
Ninteenth century production standards don't necessarily have to be the norm. If endangering workers simply isn't viewed as an option in the cultural business climate, then minimum cost of production simply rises, and profit margins simply fall. If only such an outcome were more readily embraced.
