In April, more than 1,100 garment workers were killed in the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh. And more recently, at least seven people were killed and dozens more injured in a fire that broke out at a knit wear factory located on the outskirts of Dhaka. These tragedies have now highlighted the dangerous safety conditions many people work in that's widely spread across the garment industry in Bangladesh. It's one of the fashion industry's biggest secrets, as Bangladesh supplies North America with clothing that belongs to some of the biggest brands. From H&M and Zara to Primark, Hudson's Bay Co., J.C. Penney, Joe Fresh and Wal-Mart; it's almost guaranteed that you have something that's made in Bangladesh.
The 18th century moral philosopherand political economist Adam Smith is considered the pioneer of modern economics and he argued elements of the human psyche in relation to money in his book "The Wealth of Nations." He said "Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased." To me this holds true to what our economy is, and always has been. That is, the wealthy maintaining their wealth.
Bangladesh's economy is far from strong and similar to many other countries like Indonesia and Thailand, first world nations outsource labour in these countries. Why, because it's cheap and super conglomerates and powerful suits get wealthy because of it. Everything today boils down to profit, how much I can sell and the best way to get more money, sadly that's the world we live in. We Westerners delight in the $10 T-shirts that make us feel as if we've struck gold and are getting a bargain in a world that seldom give breaks or chances. But our fashion comes at a high price, in an effort to maintain its clientele; companies in countries like Bangladesh go to exorbitant lengths to supply shirts and skirts to Canada and the U.S. In doing so they often break countless labour laws, a sad truth and for two decades this has been the case in Bangladesh.
According to the Asia Monitor Resource Centre and the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence Department, 414 garment workers died in 213 factory fires between 2006 and 2009. And last November, 117 died at the Tazreen factory, many may argue that the countries themselves need to figure out the problem and fix it. But in an often unfair world, that's difficult to do, because greed has taken over our world. So it is true that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Don't get me wrong the countries have to take some blame but we have created a world that is far from redemption.
According to the Scotsman, Adam Smith, "No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. So being one of the leading countries in garment production doesn't equate to a thriving nation. It's a harsh reality to accept but the wealthy nations, acquired their wealth from pillaging and taking. It can be either passive or aggressive and I don't have to go into the history books to explain that one.Bangladesh earns about $20 billion a year, 80% of the total export, by selling clothes to European and American brands. In June 2013 theWorld Bankannounced that Bangladesh had reduced the number of people living in poverty from 63 million in 2000 to 47 million in 2010, despite a total population that had grown to approximately 150 million. This is a great improvement but this often comes at the expense longer arduous working hours, unfair pay and child labour.
So in the grand scheme of things is this really improvement? In my opinion, no, there will always be poverty, yes, but the severity of poverty will always be at the hands of greedy leaders and money hungry business people and companies. Shame on the people in charge, they did not enforce the proper labour laws in Bangladesh, but also shame on us. Shame on our superficial nature and our gradual loss of value in the essential things in life.
