Tosoc Update 20130922

This is one of those weeks where nothing quite came together in time, so we are falling back to a simple update.  For example, we think there are many lessons to be learned from the recent strike by Bangladesh garment workers.  (The link is to the Yahoo!  Finance report on this event.)  In fact, the problem is that short blog posts require focus, but we are having trouble picking from among the many lessons we see here.

To pick just one possible focus, the labor cost for Bangladesh's entire $20 billion garment export industry is less than 10 percent.  Where does the other $18 billion go?  Why is it so hard to pay workers more?

We believe that the issue is a matter of "keeping up with the Jones's."  The rich and the bureaucrats of each nation do not compare themselves with their local workers.  They compare themselves to the rich and the bureaucrats of the Western capitalist nations.  Each of them has to control at least the equivalent of several millions of U.S. dollars just to feel that they are socially competitive with Western business men and women. The same is true of government bureaucrats who deal with Western bureaucrats.

Therefore we think that the many people around the world who hate "Western imperialism" in it military form are incorrect.  It is not Western aggression that keeps them poor, it is Western wealth and the jealousy it breeds in local leaders -- leaders who must take advantage of their local populations in order to feel that they are significant players in the international community.

The way capitalism should be.

Socialism for the socialists and capitalism for the capitalists.

TheOtherSideOfCapitalism (admin@tosoc.org)

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