In Praise of Sweatshops

My response to an ugly smear job:
In Praise of Sweatshops � In Response to Jonathan Steeds Editorial

Jonathan writes that sweatshops �represent the worst of capitalism.� In fact, sweatshops are a great example of the virtues of free trade and free markets. Consider what conditions the citizens of third world countries live in before the multinationals arrival. The great majority live in desperate conditions, with no jobs and no future to look forward to other than the backbreaking labor of subsidence farming. Healthcare is non-existent, children work almost from the time they can walk, and most die young from starvation or malnutrition.

The multinationals that build factories in poor nations face many challenges: oppressive and unpredictable governments, long distances, language barriers, primitive roads, and labor activists back at home. They choose to do so because the lower marginal productivity of the workers in poor countries allows them to save on labor costs. The workers of the sweatshops choose to work there because they consider it better than the alternatives: the endless toil of subsistence farming, prostitution, or crime. They are free to quit or look for another job anytime, but they remain at the factories because they consider it their best alternative. Their pay and working conditions may seem low to us, but they are heavenly when compared to their life prior to the multinationals� arrival.

All the efforts to ban, boycott, or otherwise shut down third world factories will do nothing but lead to the starvation and death of the very people the activists claim to protect. The best thing we can do to help citizens of third world countries is to support free trade and free markets to bring the wonderful benefits of capitalism to every poverty-ridden country in the world.