In a world that has become run over and boiling with consumerism the truth is that Mike Daisey's story is scary and hits a little too close to home. Chinese culture has always been portrayed as hard working and proud. It is in their nature to do more than their share, they have been conditioned to do so, but how far is too far? Are the atrocities in Daisey's story slowly seeping their way into America? How long do we have? Is there anything we can do about it? Some say that China is the next rising star. So how long is it until we are the expendable parts making products for the rest of the nation. I can say from personal experience that parts and bits, no matter how small, of this type of labor abuse are slowly coming our way. I had a job at a major fast food chain, and have another now at a different location, and I can tell you that I know how it feels to be treated like a machine. To the extent that is portrayed in Mikes story? Well no, not even close, but listening to him talk and making the connections in our own society with those of the Chinese factories has chilled me. Working my way over 80 hours a pay, being refused over time, and knowing the impending consequences of going to the labor board, I found myself relating to the woman in this story. I wont get blacklisted, made to work with harmful neurotoxins,or stuffed into a crowded twelve by twelve room with 14 other people, at least not yet anyway. As long as drive thru time stayed down and I was constantly doing something for nine hours, on my second week without a day off, and kept my mouth shut about how I wasn't getting paid for it, everything was fine. Everything has to have a beginning however, and no one knows how long it is before the greed of major corporations over runs our human rights. The thing is I don't believe there is anything an average middle class citizen can do about it, neither here nor there, and from my view they are the only ones that seem to care. I'm not saying its an impending doom coming into American business, but I am saying that there is a great risk if everything is not kept in balance. Corporations run for profit. Money, money, money is what its all about. It only takes one wrong person in a position of power to start throwing middle class citizens into a factory making products for those better off. The factory conditions in China are astoundingly horrid even in the world we live in today. Like Mike, I have never once thought about where my laptop came from, who's handled my IPhone, who made my T.V, and thinking about it now, I have a hard time grasping the concept that hundreds of thousands of workers have made almost everything I'm touching. Some working to exhaustion or even death. Could one of them have touched the phone the sits mere inches away from my fingers? The thought makes me cringe. Where are the people that made my things? Are they gone, dead, paralyzed from harmful chemicals? Are they out on the streets because they cant get a job for only wanting what they rightfully worked for? Why haven't I asked these questions before? I know why, because I'm selfish. Like most of consumers I didn't care. I had what I wanted, even if the people that made it have never had a chance to one themselves. Its a sad fact of life. Does it make it OK? Of course not. Nothing will change however, until someone in power stands up and starts the change, but its like the saying goes, "Out of sight, out of mind". Right?
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