Chinese Industrialization
Max Barsamian- Mondern World History
Three Pictures
'A picture is worth a thousand words' is a saying people often refer to. The three pictures above show enough information on their own to inform people that the Chinese are the slaves of the world, and that the people are limited to what a human can achieve. The picture on the left labeled "Working Conditions" can be considered to be slavery as there were "11 workers, seven of them who appeared to be mentally handicapped, worked without protective gear or enough food in a plaster factory in Jingmen City" (Xinhua Page 1). The definition of slavery is the "condition of exhausting labor or restricted freedom." The men were undergoing "problems such as unpaid wages as well as the miserable work and living environment" which qualifies the working conditions as slavery. This picture and the story behind is striking to me because it amazes me how a 21st century business could stoop to the level of slavery, simply just for more money. The picture on the right is also very astonishing to me as the workers were so tired, they fell asleep right in their working area. This picture is similar to the picture on the left as both of the images demonstrate a lack of equality. The fact that these workers were too tired to make it to the bedroom shows how the Chinese factory owners are pushing their workers to the absolute limit, slavery. The picture in the middle is also quite powerful as it demonstrates child labor. Child labor alone is a cruel epidemic as it puts an extreme limit on the success of a human. As a child in China, most kids who are under labor often times are the ones who want to work in a factory. However the countless amount of free hours worked adds up and most kids end up wanting to leave, "several children employed without labor contracts, working 11 hours per day and only being paid for 10 of those hours” (Barboza Page 1). This picture is impactful to my eyes due to the condition of the little boys working, the story behind this picture is anonymous, however the evidence that situations similar to this boys is abundant.
The picture above displays the wages, hours, and other information in comparison to the U.S. and Germany- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/average-cost-factory-worker_n_1327413.html
Five Adjectives
Although some people are not aware of the living conditions of the chinese, there is evidence that the Chinese are living unhealthy, dark, deprived, unfair, and abusive lives. Unhealthy is a broad term that represents conditions that are bad for either the environment or the people in a physical or mental way. Conditions such as large amounts of labor, and unhygenical practices are considered to be unhealthy. Dark, is a term that again can be referred to conditions such as heavy pollution, negative vibe radiation, or simply a lack or sunlight in any given area. Deprived is a striking term that is very broad, but can be easily connected to any human who lacks basic needs. Unfairness is a powerful term because when people have their rights taken away we can conclude that people revolt and chaos is released. We can conclude to this due to connectable historical events such as the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. Finally, abuse is a powerful term, and like the others it describes the chinese working conditions because anyone who is confronted with forceful orders, all chinese factory workers, is under abuse. A Chinese inmante who was forced into labor says, "We work 15 hours every day and eat food that wouldn't even be fed to pigs and dogs. We're forced to work like oxen" (Brown Page 1). This is a straight forward quote as the description of the treatment to workers is unhealty, dark, deprived, unfair, and abusive. Note that these are the exact words of a chinese prisoner forced to do work. The prisoner desperately wrote the note on a "yellow piece of paper and wrapped around what appears to be a prison identification card" (Brown Page 1) in order to express her case. Although the case had several hickups to not completely prove of forced labor, "It's not the first time western consumers have found distressing notes allegedly from abused workers in detention in China" (Brown Page 1). The repetitive evidence has shown that the labor conditions in China are true to the five adjectives. These adjectives not only connect to the case of the note, but also the pictures scattered around, as all the pictures give of unhealthy, dark, deprived, unfair, and abusive vibes.
Resource Depletion
Living Conditions (Nursing Home)
Living Conditions (Nursing Home)
Water Pollution- http://www.habitatadvocate.com.au/?tag=china-water-pollution
Air Pollution- http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2014/01/21/asian-air-pollution-affecting-worlds-weather/#.VJCD68bYlCY
Is there Hope?
Works Cited
Barboza, David. "Despite a Pledge by Samsung, Child Labor Proves Resilient." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 July 2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/business/international/children-found-working-at-samsung-supplier-in-china.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A16%22%7D>.
Brown, Sophie, Dayu Zhang, and Steven Jiang. "Primark Investigating 'forced Labor' Notes Found in Clothing." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 June 2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/world/asia/primark-chinese-prison-labor-note/>.
Chen, Baizhu. "Buying From China Is in Fact Buying American." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 22 Dec. 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2011/12/22/buying-from-china-is-in-fact-buying-american/>.
Chen, Dongjin. "Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China." Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China (2010): 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.
Duhigg, Charles, and David Barboza. "In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an IPad." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A15%22%7D&_r=0>.
Xinhua. "Mentally Ill Toiled in Poor Conditions." - China.org.cn. China.org.cn, 31 Aug. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-08/31/content_26386212.htm>.
Zhang, Renyi. "TAMUtimes." RSS. TamuTimes, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2014/01/21/asian-air-pollution-affecting-worlds-weather/#.VJRi7ACuJC>.