Scumbag British Gutter Press

[bibblies]

No, it's called free market capitalism and it's the best system that has been found to work.

 

It's a matter for that company's shareholders. It's their money and their company. Just like Lord Browne's misuses of company funds were a matter for BP shareholders (I'm one and I didn't care).

 

You'd have a point if it were the public's money, or taxpayer's money.

 

So I found it interesting that he chose to cover that kind of story rather than a public institution's misuse of peoples' funds. Usually, they're a lot more wasteful so surely it shouldn't have been difficult to find some.

 

And surely Reebok, at its worst, isn't the worst, most hypocritical, abuser of human rights. For a start, it doesn't force people to work for it. It's probably better than the previous alternatives.

 

Yet, surrounded by corrupt, freedom-restricting, wasteful states like Burma, Laos, etc, the typical journalist goes for...

 

THE BIG EVIL WESTERN MULTINATIONAL ...

 

I just question (and am bored with) the typically left-leaning journalist's natural bias.

[chuckwoww]

"That executives spend hard earned company money on sanuk for themselves whilst those who work to make the money come in get peanuts."

 

Generalising again. Some executives work hard and live stressful lives. You begrudge them having a bit of fun? Maybe they also do charity work. Some of the workers do OK too by local standards.

 

Wealth, resources even intelligence are unevenly distributed. People are weak, greedy and imperfect. I don't think the wonderful economic system you visualize ....what was it called? Marxism? works very well.

[Flashermac]

Worked well for Groucho.

 

[chuckwoww]

You again. Just what I need.

[Flashermac]

 

 

[chuckwoww]

I spend a lot of time and serious effort trying to define where I stand on major ethical issues and people just make jokes. It's very frustrating. I just might not bother anymore then see how you feel.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Hey, I like the jokes. Stop diddling around here being serious and give us another Authur and Duan story dammit! I wanna know what happened to those rats too! :thumbup:

 

Cent

[chuckwoww]

Aaagh! Another one! I can't take the pressure. Last I heard Arthur was stuck in the Landmark penthouse with a bunch of Reebok girls. It may be more Dana's style.

[Long Gun]

I would get at a pinch Reebok might employ in total maybe 500 or so staff.

Pretty much all the multi-nationals sub-contract

 

I've visited a few footwear factories around Thailand' date=' several of which were producing for Nike who, IIRC, had 4 of their own staff based in Thailand, located in Bangkok.

 

Just out of interest, what would these 75,000 people be doing if they weren't making Reebok shoes? Out of work, doing something else for less pay? Presumably these people are doing this job in favour of any other options because they feel it is the best for them. I mean, surely they didn't give up previously better-paid options?

 

There's a little industrial estate on the way down to Chonburi, can't remember the name, began with a 'U' I think, and the factory there was producing, side by side, on adjacent assembly lines, shoes for Nike, Adidas and Champion. The only difference at the time was that Nike used water-based adhesives so the staff on that line didn't need to wear masks. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the workers were from Issan but they were provided with dormitory accommodation on site for themselves and their families and the children were also educated on site, which also offered medical and sports facilities. Compared to life in the Thonburi slums or under the flyovers, it didn't seem like a bad deal.

 

Or do you think that, before Reebok, all of these "exploited" country were happy places? That they had flowery meadows and rainbow skies, and rivers made of chocolate, where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles.

 

Well, the closest I saw to that was up in Buriram province where Khun Mechai was working on projects, mainly with Nike, which involved factories being built in the middle of the paddies, airy, open-sided, quiet, everyone coming into work on their bikes and able to stay with their families in the villages. Lower rents, lower minimum wages, lower overheads for the multi-nationals, win-win.

 

Mind you, even all of those benefits did not prevent them from being staffed entirely by the plain and ugly of Buriram, the remainder still managing to find a more attractive alternative.

[thalenoi]

"That executives spend hard earned company money on sanuk for themselves whilst those who work to make the money come in get peanuts."

 

Generalising again. Some executives work hard and live stressful lives. You begrudge them having a bit of fun? Maybe they also do charity work. Some of the workers do OK too by local standards.

 

Wealth, resources even intelligence are unevenly distributed. People are weak, greedy and imperfect. I don't think the wonderful economic system you visualize ....what was it called? Marxism? works very well.

 

So, because I say I loathe executives who spend company money for their pleasure whilst workers get peanuts you find I am a Marxist? :thumbup:

 

So I am generalising?

Possible, who's not?

 

What I can tell you is that my generalisation is based on of 30 years of work "assisting" executives in all types of industries (furniture manufacturing, hospitals, airlines, banks, it's a long list).

 

I happened to observe "some" who work hard and have stressful lives, I also have observed "many" lower level workers to work hard and have stressful lives and not having the possibility to throw company money around inconsideratebly.

 

On the other hand when you realise how hard it was eg to obtain a green light to order 500 17 inch CRTs to replace old 15 inch screens whilst implementing a comapany wide new computer system and seeing these same executives laughing at your request/arguments.... Yeah, you surely know what you are talking about. Na, you should have a look at their hard elbow work deserved executive office.

 

Whilst we are at it, I can show you waisted projects where 100's of million usd of company money went down the drain caused by idiotic executive decisions not knowing what they were dealing with.

 

Shareholders? They are kept in the dark.

 

I do wonder what world you live in to be that ignorant of how small and big corporations function.

 

On the 500 or so executives I worked with, I have a hard time to identify 10 decent men.

On the thousands of lower level people I worked with many were brainless, but companies make money mainly from their dedication not that much from their often asshole bosses.

 

And yes, these Reebok execs got what they deserve.