Dreams: What is the Internet, really?...by Andrew Blum

Dreams: What is the Internet, really?...by Andrew Blum:    Have you ever wonder what is the Internet? How does it exist? Well in this discussion Andrew Blum talked about what the Internet really i...

Black Women In Technology: The Voices of China's workers

Black Women In Technology: The Voices of China's workers: The Voices of China's workers                                                       As I watched this great presentation by Leslie T. Cha...

The Voices of China's workers

The Voices of China's workers                                                     

As I watched this great presentation by Leslie T. Chang on Ted's talk, I couldn't believe what this young women was saying in her extemporaneous speech. Leslie's  argument was for everyone to see and understand how China's workers view their work and how they are being treated by their own government. Leslie spent over two years in China and during that time she interviewed several young women that work in factories in a city called Dongguan. According to Wikipedia, The city and province have been the recent focus of press and journalist attention with coverage of the arrival of teenaged Chinese workers, principally females (so-called factory girls), from agricultural areas to work in the area's factories and manufacturing/assembly facilities, where many are housed in large dormitories, usually several to a room. The women she interviewed were about 18 to 20 years old. Most of these women make less than a dollar an hour to stitch Nike shoes. Most Americans spend an average $50 to $150 dollars per pair on Nike shoes. According to China labor watch, very few people are aware of how the exploitation of Chinese female factory workers and luxury handbags, like Gucci, are related. Almost no one would believe that a female Chinese worker, Shuiyin Peng, who once helped put together luxury leather handbags, killed herself because of the harsh working conditions she labored under everyday. I was inspired by Leslie's speech. She didn't use much humor and based on the topic I understand why humor wasn't used, but once. She quoted that Karl Marx saw this as the tragedy of capitalism. Most of the women she interviewed had only seventh and eight grade level education. Coach has a new line 2191 and one bag will sell for $6,000 dollars. These women make these bags and we in America buy them. These women come from other parts of China to Dongguan, because Dongguan and a few other industrial cities are where you must
 go to find work for pennies and poor living conditions. My final thoughts, so many in our country take advantage and are not grateful for what we have.



http://www.ted.com/speakers/leslie_chang.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/leslie_t_chang_the_voices_of_china_s_workers.html
http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-347.html