I’m writing about multinational companies which sell their product in countries where people have been conned by ads into thinking a shirt with a swish logo must be worth $$$$ more than one without
Meaningless to the discussion. People like brands. Cola A vs Cola B in white cans would be stupid.
So just how would the whole economy of India collapse if these companies paid a wage that meant families no longer had to sell their children into slavery in order to provide food and shelter?
It probably wouldn't. It would probably mean bringing in machines to replace manual laborers, it would probably mean reducing the number of workers employed. And if then they would have more without jobs while those fewer left with jobs would have a higher wage, this will enrage the jobless ones who will demand that those fewer workers be taxed and their pay reduced for the benefit of the jobless. Then the minimum wage and benefits would have to be increased again- leaving more jobless. Companies move their factories to Bangladesh, Burma or Sri Lanka in response to these newly unfavorable conditions.
If the cycle keeps on long enough, you end up with places like Detroit.
People should be paid based on 3 things. What the market will bear - what people are willing to work for - and what the job is actually worth.
Any artificial tinkering with the process to benefit one group of people over another will create the need for more and more tinkering until everything is a complete mess.
For the most part I agree with you. I also believe that corruption, cronyism and needless regulations are just as harmful to those who need entry level employment as are blatantly unsafe working conditions and wages that don’t allow workers to buy even the most rudimentary necessities.
I also happen to believe that increased mechanization of factory made goods is inevitable, especially here in the States where Union demands have driven up labor costs. Now in places like India (where I do acknowledge even the wages children bring to their families matters) do I (as a Catholic Christian) believe we should push for things which may end up displacing workers and end up punishing the poor in efforts to protect them from abusive working conditions?
That does not seem very fair to the person who no longer has a job. To me a gradual approach is better. Part of that approach is being willing to pay more for certain goods if I know it means an improvement in working conditions where such goods are made.
I don’t worship an economic system, I worship Christ and I remember that one of the 4 sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance is “cheating laborers of their due.” So to me it is never just dollars and cents, it is what I will answer for before God.
We who believe in the rights and dignity of man (Christians by virtue of Imago Dei) have to offer the tools to make a better world or those with a more radical and hate filled agenda will find bigger and bigger audiences for their vileness.