One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism

One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism Chapter 15 -- "These Dark Satanic Mills" William Greider

Key Issues • Nationalistic Tendencies • Social Context of the Global Revolution • Plight of the Exploited Worker • The Common Paradox • Standards of Accountability • Social Transformation • Rural and Urban Worlds Clash • Altering Capitalism in the New “One World”

Nationalistic Tendencies “People no longer have a free choice in this matter of identity. Ready or not they are already of the world, bound to distant others through the complex strands of commerce and finance reorganizing the globe as a unified marketplace.” p 333

Nationalistic Tendencies “The nation-state faces a crisis of relevance. What remains of its purpose and power if authority over domestic social standards is yielded to disinterested market forces.” p 334

The Social Imperative • Idea is to think anew rather than retreat inward p334 • The challenge is not to abandon old identities and deeply held values but enlarge them p 334

The Two Realms • The poor nation • Repeating the past • America and Europe • The wealthy nation • Social structure under assault

Response to Social Concerns • “The new wealth of industrialization will lead naturally to middle class democracy in the poorer countries and the barbarisms will eventually be eradicated” p 336

Kader Industrial Toy Company p 337 • Located in Thailand • Employed three thousand employees • Manufactured stuffed toys, plastic dolls designed for American children

Kader Industrial Toy Company • May 10, 1993 • Worst industrial fire in the history of capitalism • 188 dead, 469 injured p 337

Kader Industrial Toy Company • Kader fire surpasses what was previously the worst industrial fire in history • Triangle Shirtwaist company fire of 1911 • Lower east side of Manhattan • 146 immigrant women died in similar circumstances p 337

Kader Industrial Toy Company • American Reactions: • Neither citizens nor government took any interest in the brutal and dangerous conditions imposed on the people who manufactured the toys p 338 • “The responsibility for those factories is in the hands of those who are there and managing the factory” David Miller, President of Toy Manufactures of America p 338

Kader Industrial Toy Company p 338 • American TV exposed similar working conditions • ABC’s 20/20 reported account of Kader fire • CNN ran disturbing footage • CBS’s 60 Minutes exposed prison labor in China • NBC’s Dateline did a piece on Wal-Mart’s production in Bangla

The Common Paradox “The process of industrialization was profoundly liberating for millions, freeing them from material scarcity and limited life choices, while it also ensnared other millions in brutal new forms of domination.” p. 342 • Income Disparity at Kader • Dreadful conditions at Kader

Income Disparity at Kader • Workers paid $2 or $3 a day, the minimum wage was $4 (100 baht) • 100 of the 3000 workers: legally designated employees • 2900 of the 3000 workers were contract workers • The chairman of Kader Holding Company, Ltd.-Dhanin Chearavanont • Quoted by Fortune magazine to be the seventy-fifth richest man in the world • Has personal assets of $2.6 billion

Dreadful Conditions at the Kader Plant “Lint, fabric, dust and animal hair filled the air on the production floor,” stated the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions based in Brussels observed in its investigative report. p. 342 This created: • Respiratory problems • Contact caused skin disease

Accountability Standards “A common response to such facts, even from many sensitive people, was: yes, that was terrible, but wouldn’t those workers be even worse off if civil standards were imposed on their employers since they might lose their jobs as a result?” p. 342 “It was not a coincidence that industry always assigned the harshest conditions and lowest pay to the weakest members of a society– women, children, uprooted migrants…people who were already quite powerless were less likely to resist, less able to demand decency from their employers.” p. 341

Accountability Standards Kader Holding Company Ltd. was considered the “powerhouse of the global toy industry” and was “neither small nor struggling.” • Worker demonstration • $12,000 compensation for each death in the Kader fire • Once compensation was paid, activists forced to stop • “There was no boycott of Kader toys in America. The professor slumped in his chair and was silent, a twisted expression on his face.” p. 344

Accountability Standards “Thailand competes with China to attract investment capital for local toy production. With this development, Thailand has become sadly lax in enforcing its own legislation,” ICFTU report. p. 345 • Company turns a blind eye to health violations and safety standards • Accidents in Thailand have nearly tripled

Accountability Standards • The Kader fire reflected the amorality of the marketplace when it was free of social obligations. • Also mocked claims of three popular religions • Buddhism • Confucius teachings • Christianity Notation of the new replacing the old—social transformation

Social Transformation in Thailand • Definition: • A reordering of social class structures that evolves along with industrialization • Greider refers to these transformations as very violent • Vast rural peasantry replaced by • a new middle class, but • mostly a poor working class

Social Transformation The Poor Working Class • Largest part of the transformation: Peasants Cheap Labor • Modernization caused a displacement of millions of small workers • Families migrated to Bangkok “All of these inequities and rapacious practices have unfolded before, in the histories of the wealthiest nations” p. 348

History Repeats Itself Developing nations were resembling the past of the wealthy nations • England and the Enclosure Movement • Peasants were being thrown off their land • Much like in Bangkok in the 1990’s • Revolutions began to break out, as did in many of today’s wealthiest nations

History Repeats Itself • The Questions: • Why would the people of Thailand do this to each other? And why did capitalism encourage this anarchy? • Why was capitalism reverting to such violent patterns as seen in the past? “Did the capitalist system learn nothing from the class warfare of the last two hundred years? Could the raw creative energies ever be schooled to follow a more humane path, one based on greater respect for human differences and dignity?” p. 349 • The Answer: “What these people want is what the West already has. And why shouldn’t they? It is a very nice life, isn’t it?” p. 349 ~Merrill Wynn Davies

The Result • Many of the citizens of Thailand worship Buddhism, believing in a life of suffering: “Hatred, anger, envy, desire of material things – the body is cremated in order to escape from that, but you can never be free from the good and bad of your past life” p. 350 • Capitalism was tearing at Buddhism just as it had Christianity five or six centuries earlier

The Result “Everybody wants to get to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” ~Albert King, American Blues Singer

The Thai Middle Class • Democratic Uprising in 1992 • Shifted political powers from being entirely controlled by the fascist military government to being split between them and the business elites • Both political formations were corrupt • Neither of them represented the popular masses of the citizens

The Thai Middle Class • Businesses felt that keeping this lower class where they were in society helped their business expansion • They were more sensitive than the military when it came to the lower working class: “They understand you have to feed a cow in order to milk it…” p. 351 • Under the military regime: “…the cow was regarded as a dumb animal and beaten with a stick” p. 351

A Revolution from Above • The changes in Thai society were imposed by the new ruling class on the disorganized citizenry pg 352 • “Industrial development may proceed under such Auspices, but the outcome after a brief and unstable period of democracy has been fascism” -Barrington Moore Jr. referring to Germany and Japan • How should the rulers address the social consequences of industrialization? • England’s problems in the 1800’s - 150 years!! • Labor party conflict to this day

Addressing the Industrial Revolution • World Bank and the Thai Government pg 352 • Eviction and relocation of farmers • Rise in agricultural taxes and consolidation of small farms • Khor Chor Forest Program and 1.5 M people • Those who resisted were beaten and killed • No compensation for losses • “Those who were deprived of their rights. displaced from their lands, were moved somewhere else and told they would be the first to benefit. Yet, five years later, they still have no electricity even though the power lines pass right over their house on the way to Bankok” -Professor Lae • Manipulation and Dehumanization • World Bank - Thumbs up!!

Societal Transformation: Fallout • Small farmers driven into debt (8000 baht/year to 1500) • Children in Bangkok pg 353 • Prostitution (1500 baht) or sweatshops • “No one wants to leave but we have to” • Starts a cycle among children because of the increased income • “Pushed by poverty (to Bankok) rather than pulled by opportunity • Rise in GDP/capita but a greater inequality pg 353 • Flow of Capital prevents change in labor interests • Thailand is merely a layover for corporations • Discontent among the people • What are the options that they have? • Compare to Korea and Taiwan • Benevolent brutality?

Thailand: A Mirror Image of the West • “No advanced society has reached that lofty stage without enduring barbaric consequences and despoliation along the way” -Greider pg 354 • American example • Slave labor and exploitation of immigrants • Environmental destruction • Modern day income inequality • Coming to terms with one’s identity pg 355 • Historically and ethically • Must make judgements about the present regardless • “Can capitalism itself be altered and reformed? Or is the world doomed to keep reliving these inhumanities in the name of economic progress?

Altering the System • Human dignity is indivisible, but not all are necessarily destined to be alike or content • Princes and paupers • We consciously make decisions everyday • What to buy, who to talk to, what ethics to practice, what standards we have, etc. • If something is distasteful, we can change it • International standards and accountability pg 357 • Terms of trade among countries • US and the WTO/GATT • Alignment of incentives (Corporations and governing elites of poor countries) • Boycotting companies like and associated with Kader

Altering the System • India- “No child labor” label on rugs pg 358 • Contemplating total eradication of child labor • Role of Government pg 358 • Must be proactive in enforcing the standards • “Until a floor is built beneath the market’s social behavior, there is no way that a small developing country like Thailand can overcome the downward pull of competition from other, poorer nations • To prevent poor nations from going what we went through • Must all countries go through the bad to get the good? • Terms of trade represent implicit moral values and are not just commercial agreements pg 359 • Property vs. Human life: which is more important? • When a free market has no conscience, it is our duty as compassionate humans to give it one

Food for Thought • Will market forces really correct all of the world’s problems or should something else be done? • What role should governments play in regulating trade and domestic markets? • Must history continually repeat itself in developing countries or is there something that we can do?

Pics

Amazon.com Wall Street Journal New York Times The Boston Globe The Nation The ICFTU The Peoples Daily, January 18, 1994 The Wall Street Journal, December 1, 1994 Asian Labour Update, July 1993 Bangkok Post, June 15, 1993 Bangkok Post, May 17, 1993 Bangkok Post, May, 29, 1993 The Nation, February 23, 1994 Freedom Review Asian Wall Street Journal The Nation - Thailand Bangkok Sunday Post Lae Dilokvidhyarat Albert Bressand Far Eastern Economic Review Barrington Moore Jr. Mortgaging the Earth Behind the Smile Thailand Growth New Delhi and Child Labor Notes

One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism