FREE ESSAY ON CAPITALISM & FREE TRADE

CAPITALISM & FREE TRADE

A global assembly line is a capitalist's dream come true. It allows companies to do
business in free trade zones to manufacture goods throughout the world at the lowest
possible cost to the company. This assembly line enables companies like Nike, with
corporate headquarters in the U.S. w to shut down their factories here, and move over
seas where there are less restrictions and cheaper labor. Where as the production cost
are drastically less in these free trade zones, so are the human rights laws, especially
those pertaining to women, the majority of the work force. 
By moving its production sites to places like Asia, Nike is able to pay workers
sub-minimum wage, on top of allowing the corporation to dodge responsibility for the
treatment of its work force. Nike strategists have certainly managed to devise a plan to
escape the responsibility and liability of insuring that it assembly line sites are safe,
healthy and fair labor places of work, by subcontracting to foreign owned and governed
factories. South Korea, the  sneaker capital of the world is one of these places. 
According to the article The Globe Trotting Sneaker the workers in these assembly
factories are predominantly women. The article also highlights the fact that South Korea
has a military government that possesses a strong determination to suppress labor
organizations. Nike is not blind to this information. These facts only work more for the
sneaker typhoon. It allows them to profit legally from under paid, over controlled and
unorganized women laborers. 
A Confucian following culture. In which Korean women except the philosophy that her
morality is measured by the amount of hard work she is willing to endure for her families
well being and to acquiesce to her father and husbands dictates is yet another benefit
that Nike reaps the profits from. 
The Global assembly line affects every part of the factory workers life both U.S and
Korean. This is due to the fact that at any given time, the corporation may decide to
pick up and move to a neighboring country because the labor is cheaper and the
restrictions fewer. 
The women working in these factories of South Korea endure numerous difficulties, low
pay, poor work conditions etc.. For many years they remain silent. In the 1980's the
silence was broken, but not shattered. For the first time, women workers organized,
separate from the men and brought their issue to be heard. They began to rebel against
not only the companies for which they worked, but against the government. Eventually,
they won the right to organize, and they created the Korean Women Workers Association.
(KWWA) This union was a major political and economic feminist move. Prior to its
creation, women enjoyed no representation or benefits from their anti-union government.
The trade agreements that South Korea entered into were for monetary reason only, with no
worker consideration or rights.
Though the KWWA has not changed the government dramatically, it has made a motion in the
right direction. It brought not only laborers rights into the picture, but women laborers
right as well. The latter is particularly important because the majority of the workers
are women. 
The KWWA won the right to organize unions as well as seeing as allowing workers to see an
increase in their wages. This political move posed a threat to the government by way of
setting a precedent, opening a door for other groups to follow. 
This movement affects the global assembly line because it makes room for higher wages, an
increased production cost and more human rights considerations. As previously mentioned,
Nike is able to use sub-contractors as a means of evading responsibility when the
treatment of its workers comes into question. In Asia, the demand for work is so high
that workers are willing to accept more harsh work environment for less pay than U.S
workers might be. Asian women and children make up the bulk of the factories work force,
so they are the ones being mistreated the most. They are also the ones that live in a
culture that holds men as the more valuable, powerful source. Another cultural attribute
connected with the Southern Korean women is that she works not only to support herself,
but often her parents and children as well. This makes a hard to come by job even more
valuable, and the threat point of loosing it more significant. Therefore the woman may be
less apt to complain or create noise out of fear of loosing her job
With few exceptions, foreign women working on the global assembly line are seriously
underrepresented politically. In the U.S. women are also not as well represented as much
as men in politics. Historically, both U.S and Asian women, especially working women have
lacked the political support needed to balance the playing fields with their male counter
parts. Women in the U.S. are substantially better represented in politics than Asian
women, yet there are still similarities between the two groups. Even with a large female
investment in personal human capital, U.S. women still suffer in poor work environments
as do Asian women. Another connection between the two groups can be found in the amount
of education they each received. Women are traditionally given less priority when it
comes to education, and those that hail from a lower financial class get even less of a
chance at education. Both women working in factories in Asia and the U.S. are more times
than not, from a poorer class, with less education. That means that they both have a low
economic position and more than likely a lack of political representation. 
The lack of political influence directly affects these assembly line workers in both
continents. Neither group has the money to devote to politics and as a result politicians
do not have the drive to champoin any rights for them. So they remain without a voice. 
A global assembly line is a capitalist's dream come true. It allows companies to do
business in free trade zones to manufacture goods throughout the world at the lowest
possible cost to the company. This assembly line enables companies like Nike, with
corporate headquarters in the U.S. w to shut down their factories here, and move over
seas where there are less restrictions and cheaper labor. Where as the production cost
are drastically less in these free trade zones, so are the human rights laws, especially
those pertaining to women, the majority of the work force. 
By moving its production sites to places like Asia, Nike is able to pay workers
sub-minimum wage, on top of allowing the corporation to dodge responsibility for the
treatment of its work force. Nike strategists have certainly managed to devise a plan to
escape the responsibility and liability of insuring that it assembly line sites are safe,
healthy and fair labor places of work, by subcontracting to foreign owned and governed
factories. South Korea, the  sneaker capital of the world is one of these places. 
According to the article The Globe Trotting Sneaker the workers in these assembly
factories are predominantly women. The article also highlights the fact that South Korea
has a military government that possesses a strong determination to suppress labor
organizations. Nike is not blind to this information. These facts only work more for the
sneaker typhoon. It allows them to profit legally from under paid, over controlled and
unorganized women laborers. 
A Confucian following culture. In which Korean women except the philosophy that her
morality is measured by the amount of hard work she is willing to endure for her families
well being and to acquiesce to her father and husbands dictates is yet another benefit
that Nike reaps the profits from. 
The Global assembly line affects every part of the factory workers life both U.S and
Korean. This is due to the fact that at any given time, the corporation may decide to
pick up and move to a neighboring country because the labor is cheaper and the
restrictions fewer. 
The women working in these factories of South Korea endure numerous difficulties, low
pay, poor work conditions etc.. For many years they remain silent. In the 1980's the
silence was broken, but not shattered. For the first time, women workers organized,
separate from the men and brought their issue to be heard. They began to rebel against
not only the companies for which they worked, but against the government. Eventually,
they won the right to organize, and they created the Korean Women Workers Association.
(KWWA) This union was a major political and economic feminist move. Prior to its
creation, women enjoyed no representation or benefits from their anti-union government.
The trade agreements that South Korea entered into were for monetary reason only, with no
worker consideration or rights.
Though the KWWA has not changed the government dramatically, it has made a motion in the
right direction. It brought not only laborers rights into the picture, but women laborers
right as well. The latter is particularly important because the majority of the workers
are women. 
The KWWA won the right to organize unions as well as seeing as allowing workers to see an
increase in their wages. This political move posed a threat to the government by way of
setting a precedent, opening a door for other groups to follow. 
This movement affects the global assembly line because it makes room for higher wages, an
increased production cost and more human rights considerations. As previously mentioned,
Nike is able to use sub-contractors as a means of evading responsibility when the
treatment of its workers comes into question. In Asia, the demand for work is so high
that workers are willing to accept more harsh work environment for less pay than U.S
workers might be. Asian women and children make up the bulk of the factories work force,
so they are the ones being mistreated the most. They are also the ones that live in a
culture that holds men as the more valuable, powerful source. Another cultural attribute
connected with the Southern Korean women is that she works not only to support herself,
but often her parents and children as well. This makes a hard to come by job even more
valuable, and the threat point of loosing it more significant. Therefore the woman may be
less apt to complain or create noise out of fear of loosing her job
With few exceptions, foreign women working on the global assembly line are seriously
underrepresented politically. In the U.S. women are also not as well represented as much
as men in politics. Historically, both U.S and Asian women, especially working women have
lacked the political support needed to balance the playing fields with their male counter
parts. Women in the U.S. are substantially better represented in politics than Asian
women, yet there are still similarities between the two groups. Even with a large female
investment in personal human capital, U.S. women still suffer in poor work environments
as do Asian women. Another connection between the two groups can be found in the amount
of education they each received. Women are traditionally given less priority when it
comes to education, and those that hail from a lower financial class get even less of a
chance at education. Both women working in factories in Asia and the U.S. are more times
than not, from a poorer class, with less education. That means that they both have a low
economic position and more than likely a lack of political representation. 
The lack of political influence directly affects these assembly line workers in both
continents. Neither group has the money to devote to politics and as a result politicians
do not have the drive to champoin any rights for them. So they remain without a voice.