Made In Chin The Life Of The Peasants By William Stearns Davis

“Made In China”

(300 words) While reading the instalment in the provided source document resource packet, “Chapter XVI: The Life of the Peasants,” by William Stearns Davis, I began researching resources under the general category of American companies that outsource labor jobs. The description of the manner in which the Knights and Lords of the time treated the peasants whom they hired for manual labor reminded me of the way in which today’s American companies send jobs offshore in order to save money, turn a higher profit, and meet high demands in consumer societies. However, I began to wonder if saving a few dollars on manufacturing costs in the USA may create negative repercussions on not only the America’s economy and job market availability,

According to Ross Perlin, writer for Dissent Magazine which has reported on American politics since 1954, Foxconn manufactures products for consumers in both the United States and other foreign companies, including the infamous Apple inc., and has become the “world’s second largest private employer after Wal-Mart.” In order to keep up with high demand for products such as the iPad and iPhone, Foxconn keeps millions of their workers underpaid and overworked, which translates into lower manufacturing costs for the companies that they produce

Dollars]... The wages are low” (Ngai & Chan 185). The meager wages provided to the employees by Foxconn create a grid-lock situation, making the workers dependent on the company in order to survive day-to-day, with groups as large as 300 resorting to threatening suicide unless wages were increased (Moscaritolo 1). However, despite the testimonials of Foxconn employees, the company itself often claims to raise the wages of their workers as they are faced with criticism (Barboza 1). Despite the evidence of exploitation of workers, Jeff Williams, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations, claims that the company is “united in bringing equality, respect for human rights... to the deepest levels of our [Apple’s] supply chain”, but does admit that gaps in their conquest of progress do still exist. Because of this, it becomes harder to determine whether the manufacturer or contracted company is to blame for exploitation of workers, thus also complicating the decision of whether or not banning American companies from outsourcing will actually solve these problems without leaving millions jobless