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Injustice at the Littlest Pet Shop
Posted by Tony Sisk in Uncategorized
Recently, my children have gotten turned on to “The Littlest Pet Shop” toys. They are plastic, cutesie, bug-eyed, little bobble-heads. I’m not impressed by them but they enjoy them and I don’t like to deprive my children enjoyment when I can. However, the wind was knocked out of me as I turned one of the little baubles over and read a simple little word on the underbelly; “China.”
Honestly, I knew better when I plunked down $4.49 for the monstrosity. Being so far removed from the reality of the conditions that toy was probably manufactured in has jaded me, and my thinking went something like this: “Well, it doesn’t affect me in any real way, so…”
But it should affect me. And you, too. It is devilishly hard to be affected by the plight of a girl, fifteen or sixteen years old, working for less than Bob Cratchit’s wage, her only meal a bowl of broth gulped down on her very limited break, condemned to work between twelve to sixteen hours a day, to lie at night at her co-worker’s dirty feet, slaving away, exhausted with no promise of true rest. The truth is we would probably walk over the top of the amount of money these stricken girls make in a day if we found it lying in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Yet the temptation for just one more trinket is not so far out of reach, is it?
Go ahead and justify that a few cents on the American dollar in such a situation is a mint to that individual. Just don’t forget to subtract rent and food costs for the dormitory living arrangements these young people live in. Their pay then in most cases equals their expenses. Literally, some of these children drop dead from overwork. It’s a modern-day slave trade. Working in constant fear that they may lose their jobs should they fall ill, sleep late, or fail to keep up, they toil away, with no hope, no future, no voice, and abominably, nowhere to turn.
And for what? So my kids and yours can have a piece of plastic to play with that fifteen minutes later it will either be buried in a chest with many others similar to it or worse, bunkering our county landfills. I have a difficult time withholding any good thing from my children, but when I see that tiny inscription on the underside of those toys, it reminds me that they were produced upon the backs of children not much older than they are, who are leading a joyless existence, all for the sake of fulfilling my materialistic greed. My stomach churns at that notion.
The lesson here is that our excess costs us something. We may see it as a fleeting pleasure designed to curry the whim of one of our starry-eyed babies and we may never see it as a cheap piece of flotsam made by a modern-day slave. I am convinced that these things really don’t concern us so long as we get what we want and when we get it we get it cheap.
Now this post is not meant to persuade you to buy American made. I want us to think about the Christian response to social injustice and how our consumerism feeds such overseas atrocities. You would think that if our desire for more and more creates injustice, we would stand out against it. When is the last time you heard a sermon on this issue or even mentioned from the pulpit? Has it ever been alluded to in our tight Christian circles?
I readily admit that times get pretty lean around the Sisk household and that bug-eyed bobble-head is tempting to the pocketbook, knowing it will put a smile on one of my daughter’s faces at minimal expense. So, I don’t think about the tortuous route it came from and praise the Lord I could make my little one smile. Shouldn’t it rather make me weep?
I don’t know the answers to these abominations. I am neither politically nor legally savvy enough to offer even a remotely persuasive suggestion. Moreover, I am not so naïve to think that these types of toys will ever be made in America again, as they once were. What could a Christian response be? Live with less? Of course. Buy American? When I can. Deny my child a kid’s meal? Not so easy.
A required course while in seminary was Christian Missions. One graded exercise was to memorize all the capitals of nearly all the countries of the world. When the professor was queried why we should have to do such a mundane activity, he remarked that it was to “remind us that people live in those countries;” people who need a Savior, people who need to know the God who can give them a hope and a future, people who need to know that God loves them. And somehow, someway, we as God’s children need to echo that same sentiment, even if it is 3,000 miles away.
(To see a very recent report from the National Labor Committee on these things and the inspiration for this post, go here. You may be astounded to discover that a lot of religious goods, sold in mega-church gift shops and by Christian retail stores, are also made under similar circumstances. The picture of the above factory is taken from that report.)
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Tony,
I guess the question is, “How do we know?” Do we assume that if the tag has the name of another country on it that the product was made in a sweatshop? How do we know?
If you take a look at the shelves of Wal-Mart, you’ll find that pretty much every hard plastic product is made in China. Most garments are made in Bangladesh.
How much of the responsibility should fall on our governmental agencies which are responsible for policing international trade?
It is a most complicated issue, indeed. In this day of an interwoven global economy, it will be hard to sort out the facts.
I worked in a factory for some time during my college years. A factory job isn’t a very pleasant experience, even with our laws and protections.
Yes, a complex issue, indeed. But I believe that, for our own “mental protection,” this is something that we will intentionally choose to keep ‘out of sight” so that it will remain “out of mind.” Don’t you think?
Okay, let’s just toss out this side of the fence…
What kind of existence would those 14-year old girls have if we DON’T buy their products? Would they have ANY money? Or would they just not have jobs and still starve to death?
In other words, while third-world nations are a source of cheap labor, we gotta remember that they are cheap because their standard of living is low and they – literally – have NO other way to earn money. Without these sweatshop jobs, they have nothing.
Like Geoff says, it’s a most complicated issue.
Good post, though, Tony, and I’m very interested in what Christians can and should do to help eliminate this problem in our world.
Geoff,
Like I said, I do not know the answers. Obviously from the dearth of comments this is something that people are not willing to discuss. I don’t say that to pad my own comment stream or seem self-serving, but that is telling in and of itself.
A good discussion of capitalism and its abuses are a good place to start, without any criticism of capitalism degenerating into the assumption that the opposite of capitalism is communism.
There is defintely now way to know and I made plain in the post that I don’t know for certain that Littlest Pet Shop toys are made by sweatshop labor. But the report I linked affirms that many crucifixes are. That should trouble us even more. Though I hate to say it, this is one place where government intervention will be a necessity.
Bernard,
I don’t know if I personally am comfortable with that sentiment. Knowing that a trinket for my child nearly ground a Malaysian kid into oblivion grieves me in my soul. Are we so sold on our standard of living that we are unwilling to do anything to elevate the standard of living somewhere else?
I don’t know what a great Christian response should be but this is a topic that needs to be discussed, and here is just as good a place as any.
Tony – I’m extremely willing to discuss this. I do bet a lot of the regulars here are recovering from Sunday, perhaps even taking today as their Sabbath, or attending Monday meetings…
That’s not necessarily “MY” sentiment, just to be clear. It IS, however, part of the issue. Many of the sweatshop owners, or their owners, or their owners, actually act as though they are doing their “slaves” a favor, I’m sure.
Is it better for them to have nothing than to work way too much for a little? I don’t know. As to grinding a Malaysian kid into oblivion, where’s the balance with the fact that the Malaysian kid has already been ground into oblivion based on the HOPE that you would buy the trinket. The investors are BANKING on the American tendency.
Want to take another trip? Consider the electronic trash of the world…
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2007/gb2007089_204292.htm
This is, if I understand correctly, material that we Americans would so proudly “recycled responsibly…” Is it better for me to simply let bury my old CRT monitors on the back 40 and contaminate the groundwater here, or should I recycle it and have it shipped to China, where it will contribute to a huge problem, not only environmentally, but to crime and to human toxicity.
The “global” question you raise here is huge.
Personally, rather than encouraging “boycott” mentality, I believe that we would all be more “Christian” if we pressure our government leaders to pressure third world leadership to work to improve safety measures and working conditions in their countries. Whether or not I buy a trinket or a cross really isn’t going to impact the economy. Yes, if millions do not buy them, there will be an impact, and I personally would like to be more conscious of these things. BUT! If all Christians boycott Target because they are gay-friendly and all Christians boycott Walmart because they are sweatshop friendly and all the Christians boycott Winn Dixie because they sell alcohol, pretty soon there are going to be a lot of cashiers who have no money to buy Christmas presents for their kids. As well, MY kids won’t have Christmas presents, because I can’t buy them anywhere.
Most of us also have to turn off our computers, which means we can’t be blogging, because the computers are assembled by cheap labor, too. Sweatshops? Probably not, but much cheaper than they SHOULD have to work.
Big question, Tony, and no one has the answers. Like you say, few seem willing to discuss it.
I’m largely proposing “devil’s advocate questions”. I’m not meaning to take a stance defending cheap labor.
What about eating apples, by the way? They’re typically picked by migrant workers in America, many illegal, who are chosen because they work cheap and for cash. Should I, as a Christian, choose to not eat apples?
Just as a secondary note, I think it would be tremendously appropriate if Christians began exerting pressure on the Christian retailers and the association that is further this kind of mess.
Please, please, please don’t misinterpret my comments about the complexity of the situation to be “excusing” toward the operators who are guilty of mistreatment.
It serves well to remind us that we are not of this world. We can’t solve all the social ills of this planet. Keep making disciples, preach the Word, serve the lost. Yes I want workers to be compensated fairly but I want them to go to Heaven more. It’s funny how our emphasis is now on drinking, global warming, poverty, etc. Let it be on the Cross and our Savior. We have U.S. citizens who aren’t even compensated fairly for the work they perform, where does it end? As Christians, let us be reminded of our duties and let us strive to perform them for His Glory. I’m just saying, don’t get too distracted and lose focus.
[...] Check This Out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt: Recently, my children have gotten turned on to “The Littlest Pet Shop” toys. They are plastic, cutesie, bug-eyed, little bobble-heads. I’m not impressed by them but they enjoy them and I don’t like to deprive my children enjoyment when … [...]
I wish Jesus’ ministry would allow us to focus only upon the “spiritual” side of the gospel, but it won’t (cf. Luke 4:18-19). The salvation we are to preach is indeed holistic — “good news to the poor” (economic), “release to the captives” (social), “recovery of sight to the blind” (physical), “freedom for the oppressed” (political), etc. The “favorable year of the Lord” is salvation in all of its aspects. The cross brings freedom in all of those aspects (and more). Jesus’ followers are to be concerned and active in helping in these areas (Matt 25:31-46). The early church took great measures to take care of one another “as anyone might have need” (Acts 2:45). This had an undeniable impact on a lost community (cf. v. 47).
I believe that concern for the poor, oppressed, downcast, and underprivileged is a vital part of the gospel we preach. The answers may not be simple because the issues are many times complex. There may not be any quick fixes, but I believe God already has the burden about such things, and He is willing to grant the wisdom for the part we can play in showing that Jesus does indeed make a difference.
Bless you, Tony, for your burden. Walk with God and trust His wisdom in the part you need to play personally about it.
Dear Tony, this is something I’ve struggled with for years. I have even gone so far as to simply clothe myself and family with yardsale items and Goodwill purchases (at least when I buy foreign, it benefits those here in America). I am ever mindful of those who slave to produce things for my fanciful pleasures. It brings me to pray for the hands that “prepare” the items. I pray for missionaries to have an open door in their lives.
Being extremely limited financially affords me the luxury of being very selective regarding gifts. I don’t buy much. When I stop and dwell on that which you wrote, it simply breaks my heart. I see a huge elephant and realize it can only be consumed bite by bite. And just as it doesn’t work to boycott Disney, it doesn’t work to stop purchasing items from these countries.
I once had a missionary from Equador in my home and he said, if it wasn’t for those companies, the children wouldn’t survive at all. And many of those children support entire families off their pittance of earnings because their earnings give them more for the work they do than they’d make in any other way. No matter what way we look at it, it is unjust and wrong.
So little we can do individually–prayer is my only solace. And sometimes that seems so futile in light of all we read. Thanks for bringing this to the table. Personally, I have difficulty discussing it because I have nothing to add other than how ashamed I am to be so luxuriously blessed. selahV
btw…the only thing we could do as Americans, as I see it, is to write our congressmen and tell them we want better conditions for those who work in those sweatshops. Why can’t that be part of the purchasing power we have? I don’t know much about economics…it just seems like there is pressure that could be brought to bear, just have no idea how we could do it. selahV
Bernard,
I know you aren’t defending cheap labor; at least I hope you aren’t! I do think that most Americans do not realize just how dependent our economy is upon cheap, overseas labor and how the same enables the standard of living that we all enjoy.
But let me throw the ball back in your court with a few “Devil’s Advocate” questions of my own. Consider the slave trade in Great Britain and then subsequently America. The motivating factor against the trade was the inhumanity and injustice of the system. However, those in favor of it cried out that the survival of the economy was dependent upon slave (read, forced) labor. Some of the more staunch enforcers of slavery actually came out and said that their standard of living was at stake.
Yes, these are delicate questions and there will always everywhere be someone who either out of ignorance or pure economic necessity buy items produced via cheap labor.
The real problem is the system just isn’t moral. What once set capitalism apart was largely championed by Christians. But now that Christians for the most part have dropped out of the conversation; bad capitalism is better than no capitalism, right? Worse, they have joined into the same robber-baron mentality, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” So the system is shot, broken–and someone is ALWAYS making a buck at someone else’s expense, both here and abroad.
Capitalism is only as good as its practitioners–I don’t think “What would Jesus buy?” is the right question to ask but rather what the driving force of capitalism is–and its greed (in its current form). Pure, selfish, unadulterated greed.
My point in the slavery comparison is we can make a dent–it worked 150 years ago, I think it can work again.
John,
Of course I want them to go to heaven more, but if I have what they need for the body, yet do not provide, what does it profit? You have set up a false dichotomy. Is addressing social injustices not part of the Gospel?
Yes, Jesus did say we would have the poor always with us, but where you say, We have U.S. citizens who aren’t even compensated fairly for the work they perform are you not elevating being American over being Malaysian? Or Chinese? Where then does that end, friend?
Do we not even have the language to address such issues? We need to have a discussion about the way we live. How often I have heard people say they do not know where their food comes from (besides the local grocery store) and fail to realize as well how (comparatively) little they spend on food and clothing.
Kevin,
Thank you for your wisdom and blessed comment. The complexity of the issues preclude much discussion but we need–we MUST–start somewhere. Possibly it begins with showing to the “powers-that-be” how badly the system is prone to exploitation yet also how it is such a wonderful economic dynamic where all can and indeed should benefit.
Mrs. V,
I think this is one place (and I cannot believe I am saying this) where political activism is probably the best possible solution. Granted, we cannot make foreign countries enforce their own labor laws and China has some of the most extensive of any country. But we can make differences here.
Being different is hard, though. We’ve all had our wages driven down so that shopping in Wal*Mart is about what we can afford. I can make a few changes in my buying, but I can’t make them all. Until the poisonous business atmosphere in this country changes, what do we do?
I just think that where we are causing exploitation we should try to be more mindful. Am I willing to pay $1 extra for a shirt made in America? Deprive my child a Littlest Pet Shop toy?
At Mickey D’s the meal of choice for the kids is of course a Happy Meal and it has toys in them that I know for certain are made by cheap labor. We rather just get a couple of large orders of FF’s, chicken nuggets, ample ketchup, sling ‘em out in front of the kids, and let ‘em eat. But until some of the CEO’s of these abusive companies grow consciences, just because I don’t pick up four Happy Meals nothing will change.
Tony,
I appreciate your post and the sentiments of it. I share your concerns as well. However, it seems to me that the issue is one of economics. As a former executive in the world of corporate business for 25 years, I understand that for most companies the bottom line is the bottom line.
It does not matter to the corporate world what the working conditions are of vendors because vendors are just that: vendors. They supply the product to the corporation and as long as the product meets the quality assurance guidelines mandated by the company for the least cost possible to the company, they are happy.
Many thousands of vendors are vying for corporate accounts and the way to win these accounts is to provide the product for the least cost. If that means child labor in foreign countries to accomplish their goals, then that’s not a concern for them.
This is a fact of corporate America. Profits are the name of the game and without ever increasing profits, then stock prices begin to fall and board of directors get nervous and CEO’s and COO’s are fired.
Is this right? It depends upon your perspective. If your perspective is one of maintaining retirement accounts with a growing stock market, it is right. If your perspective is spiritual instead of material, then of course, it is wrong. Unfortunately we live in a culture that is rich and wants to get richer. How that goal is accomplished is not as important to most people as the fact that the goal is indeed accomplished.
Are there solutions to what we, as Christians, perceive to be a moral and ethical problem? Sure. The solution is to convince corporations to stop using foreign vendors. The solution is to bring all manufacturing jobs back into the USA. The solution is to mandate higher exports than imports.
Are these solutions realistic? Probably not. Until the hearts of corporate America are regenerated by Christ, we will probably continue with this shameful business model. Boycotts might be effective, however, for them to be truly effective you would have to have national support for the boycott to make any major impact on sales. I don’t see this happening because we’re too selfish to do something like that on a national scale.
We are a materially based society with only a modicum of ethical concern. We become indignant toward excesses such as those that Tony points out as long as it doesn’t affect our lifestyle. However, once it crosses over to affect how we live day by day, when it affects our comfort, then we’re not as ethically interested.
If I’m reading my Bible correctly, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. May God have mercy on us all.
Les
Les, I agree with you and also wish you were wrong. But that is the way we are. Even Christians want everything for as little as it can cost us. Our “wanters” are the big problem. And even if we could fix 80% of the Christians’ “wanters” so that they sought first the Kingdom of God, we’d still have to contend with the world and its insatiable desire to have more for as little as possible. Jesus said the poor would always be with us. We are to do what we can to live justly, uphold justice and help the enslaved, stricken and downtrodden. The final analysis is that things will indeed get worse. And that is why it is vitally important for each of us to ask God to examine us independently of another. He will only judge me for what I do and don’t do. He will not judge me for what you do or don’t do. Tony, thanks for the admonishment. I shall try and live according to what the Lord leads in this matter. selahV
Les,
Thanks for your comment and the wisdom you have brought to this discussion. I was once in the business world but only for about two years as a purchasing agent, so I know somewhat about a healthy bottom line and certainly about getting the best product for the least cost.
However, one thing I did learn and I think you will agree is that when quality was undercut so as to win a bid, sometimes the higher cost won just so as to maintain quality.
Our look at quality should be more holistic than just best product for the least cost; we must also consider the path by which it arrived in our hands. If our system is enabling immorality and injustice, then something is wrong.
Cheap labor is an essential for market capitalism to work and it must come from somewhere. Our quality of life is directly connected to poverty somewhere, but how do we make the trade-off? Most people will not sacrifice their way of life which in some way has been enabled by the cheap labor of someone somewhere.
I will reiterate; I am not wise or studied enough to know the answers but a realization of the problems is certainly the first step.
And you are absolutely correct, it will get worse before it gets better. I just don’t want brute facts to become a cop-out; its like saying, “Well, this car is about to break down, so I will go ahead and replace it now,” when there are several thousand miles left on it. If I’m reading my Bible correctly, then redemption must occur on this side of the cross as much as in the consummation of history.
My gratitude to you, brother.
Everyone,
Thank you for this discussion. It is somewhat a diversion from the typical topics of SBC Impact! and I am grateful for the responses.
i love all my littlest pet shops but dn’t like child labour… but i want to keep bying them as well as stopping it! i am confused!?