In defense of international sweatshops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

In defense of international sweatshops - Essay Example b.â€Å"Living wage† standard – According to De George, the living wage allows the worker to live in dignity as a human being. This standard is â€Å"nice† to hear but may be very difficult to determine as it involves the abstract concept of dignity which would be debatable and may be variable among individuals.c.Donaldson’s test – This standard proposes a moral minimum that complies with the test, â€Å"The practice is permissible if and only if the members of the home country would, under conditions of economic development relevantly similar to those of the host country, regard the practice as permissible.† Again, interpretation of the moral minimum would vary from individual to individual according to the subjective perceptions of each. This therefore will make this standard difficult to use if not altogether useless.d.Classical liberal standard – This standard proposes that a wage or labor standard is ethically acceptable if it is freely chosen by informed workers. The standard is by far the most practical and logical among the four. It allows market and labor forces to dictate the appropriate wage and labor standards in a particular location. Maitland’s criticism of Donaldson’s test is persuasive and easy to agree to. As previously stated, the moral minimum proposed by Donaldson and complying with his test would vary from individual to individual and as Maitland said will confuse implementing managers in the international sweatshops.... usly stated, the moral minimum proposed by Donaldson and complying with his test would vary from individual to individual and as Maitland said will confuse implementing managers in the international sweatshops. Donaldson and De George believe the classical liberal standard is inapplicable to poor, developing countries because in these countries, some sort of market failure or the background conditions are lacking for market forces to work effectively. Such background conditions include the very high average level of unemployment of 40% in developing countries, and background institutions like enforceable minimum wage. These prevent the effective application of neoclassical economic principles wherein the classical liberal standard is based. I disagree with Donaldson and De George's arguments because I consider the very same background conditions that they say prevent market forces to work, as part of the market forces. 2. By American standards, wages in international sweatshops are very low and working conditions appear terrible. Does the fact that foreign workers are eager to take these jobs establish that those wages and conditions are morally acceptable In my opinion, the fact that foreign workers are eager to take sweatshop wages and conditions despite their disparities with American standards make this morally acceptable. Moral acceptability as defined by Kant (1998) connotes universalizability. The concept of universalizaibility states that the only morally acceptable maxims of actions are those that could rationally be willed to be universal law. I would extend the interpretation to apply to the eagerness of the foreign workers. Since all the foreign workers are agreeable to the wages and conditions, then they are morally acceptable. 3. Maitland appears to