The Dangers of Free Trade

                China is infamous for its factories.  Many people can vividly imagine rows of assembly lines manned by children stretching infinitely into the distance, and do when the topic of “Chinese factories” comes up.  Some people are horrified by this and do what they can to change it.  Others pretend to care but really, as long as their clothes are cheap and the iPhones work they do not really give a damn about who made it.  However, the majority of people cannot do anything about the situation.   So who can do something? 

                Corporations probably could do the most to fix the problems.  Unfortunately, due to little to no restrictions resulting from free trade, many corporations put profit over people regardless of the moral obligation to care about worker. 

                China is the “4^th largest producer of manufactured goods” (Facts).  Eighty percent of the “top 500 companies in the world” manufacture in China (Facts).  One may think that with all this trade, the workers would be well paid. 

                Wrong.

                In fact, Chinese workers are the lowest paid of all, with salaries ranging from less than fifty-five cents to one US Dollar.  Many of the workers hope to save up their pay so that someday they can start a family.  However, with such low wages, how could they ever really expect such a thing?  The pay isn’t even enough to afford a home, and most people live on the factory property, sometimes with as many as “20 workers in 3 room houses” (China Suicides).  With no real hope for the future and terribly living conditions in their daily lives, it’s hardly a surprise that waves of suicides have swept through the factories.  From 2009 to 2011 alone, “18 people” committed suicide at one of Apple’s factories (China Suicides).  

                The deaths in Chinese factories are not just by the hands of the workers.  Much of the blood is directly on Apple’s hands.  There have been reports of multiple explosions, often from the fumes of chemicals used to clean the glass of the products.  A blast in 2011 killed four workers and injured eleven.  Apple had been warned about the fire hazard and done nothing.  

                Deaths and injuries have come from more than just explosions.  Remember the chemicals I just mentioned?  In fact, the chemical is highly toxic.  Apple knows this, but the chemical dries faster than safer options.  Since that means that more products can be produced in less time, it doesn’t matter that “137 workers” have experienced negative side effects from using the chemical (China Suicides).  Apple claims to have followed up on reports, but “many say they were not treated or compensated” (China Suicides).  The dangerous conditions are not solely at Apple’s plants.  According to the article “Reform Stalls in Chinese Factories,” Disney and Dell have also been reported.

                Corporations don’t just hurt those who work for them; they hurt everyone.  The factories spew massive amounts of pollutants into the air with reckless abandon.  In China, pollution levels in the city have been “beyond the measurements used in the US” to determine the quality of the air (Off the Charts).  The number reached 517 (the US scale only goes to 500).  In some areas, readings of “755” have been recorded.  “Over one hundred polluting factories” have been temporarily shut down as a result (Off the Charts).

                The dangers of free trade extend from the individual worker to all who inhabit the planet.  We need to begin to monitor it now, or else we will be left with a broken planet inhabited by broken people.

Barboza, David. "Reform Stalls in Chinese Factories." The New York Times. The New York Times, 

          05 Jan. 2008. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

"China Manufacturing - Facts." China Manufacturing - Facts. Macrotech Marketing Associates,   

          2005. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Demick, Barbara. "China Pollution Results in Factory Closures, Flight Cancellations." Los Angeles 

          Times. Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Foley, Stephen. "Apple Admits Human Rights Problem after China Suicides." 

           BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Belfast Telegraph, 14 Feb. 2012. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Hillburn, Matthew. "Pollution in China Goes 'Off the Charts'" VOA. Voices of America, 29 Jan. 

          2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.