Ravisankar Sweatshop Oppression Summary

September 3, 2012
Essay #1
Word Count: 804

“Sweatshop Oppression” by Rajeev Ravisankar What is a sweatshop? Well, a sweatshop is a work environment with long hours, low wages, and difficult or dangerous conditions. Why are they frowned upon? Ravisankar expresses and demonstrates the many reasons why sweatshops are unethical. His attempt to convince the audience, sweatshops are degrading human rights is successful because of his skillful word choice and confident tone. Ravisankar grasps the attention of many consumers by saying “Being the ‘poor’ college students that we all are, many of us undoubtedly place the emphasis on finding the lowest prices”(86). With this being said, he relates to most people as to why they look for the lowest prices, but soon after that he disagrees with it.
Ravisankar describes the harsh working conditions within the sweatshops to help you empathize with the workers.
To create empathy, Rajeev uses negative words. In this passage he says “Many of these workers are forced to work 70-80 hours per week” (86), forced has a negative impression on people. Who likes to be forced into something? Also, Rajeev explains the negative environment these workers consume by saying, “Unsanitary bathrooms, poor ventilation and extreme heat”(86). The words unsanitary, poor and extreme are also very negative words. Rajeev then states the workers, “must fulfill certain quotas for the day and stay extra hours (with no pay) if these are not fulfilled”(86), meaning workers will have to stay and work for free if the quotas are not met. In addition to these negative facts, child labor is utilized in some factories and child labor is always frowned
upon.
Uninformed consumers are also getting blamed for the continuance of the sweatshops. This is happening because, even though the consumers are unaware of the issues, they continue to go about their life as do the consumers who know of the issues. Rajeev says “Some take this to the extreme and camp out in front of a massive retail store in the wee hours of the morning on Black Friday, waiting for the opportunity to buy as much as we can for as little as possible”(86). The low prices we are so eager to reach causes low-cost driven consumerism, which means associates working for very low wages. In many cases of sweatshop, the selfishness of the consumers is the main sources to blame. “Corporations….are interested in doing anything to increase profits”(86). These companies are paying these workers as little as possible to make more money for them. Changes have not yet been made, nor will they be made without the help of the consumers. Pressure from the labor rights’ activists, caused companies to make promises contributing just a few more pennies to the workers, which may not seem like much but it would make a big difference to the workers. The companies did not follow through with the promises made to the labor rights’ activists. Their reason for not keeping their promises is, “multinational corporations are not interested in giving charity; they are interested in doing anything to increase profits”(86). With this being said somehow the blame shifted to the anti-sweatshop activists. The reason for the blame shifting is because the anti-sweatshop activists forced companies to leave their location which caused workers to lose their jobs. Even though “companies make the decision to shift to locations where they can find cheaper labor and weaker labor restrictions”(86), this is not taking into consideration for the anti-sweatshop activists.
Organizations contribute in the few ways they can. The organizations have protested by not buying name brands, such as, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Champion, Gap, Wal-Mart etc. Protesting these companies will show them, “they are to blame for perpetuating a system of exploitation which seeks to get as much out of each worker for the least possible price”(87). Campaigning against sweatshops much needed in order for changes to be made. If no changes are made the result, in continuing in the direction its going, will simply make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.
To proceed in world equality we must be willing to make sacrifices for others well-being. If everyone is well informed of the issues at hand, there might be more people willing to contribute in the ways to prevent sweatshop. Even though changes have not yet been made, consumers still have time to help in the ways they can. All in all, in order to make a change you must inform every one of the issue. Sweatshop is a growing problem and can’t be stopped unless we all contribute in the changes needed to be made to stop this work environment that consists of long hours, low wages, and difficult or dangerous conditions.
Works Cited:
Ravisankar, Rajeev. “Sweatshop Oppression.” Practical Argument. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell Boston, New York, 2011. 86-87. Print.