Blog 10: Making Stuff Cheap; Q & A

Mardi Gras Made in China is a documentary that confronts both cultural and economic globalism by humanizing the commodity chain from China to the United States. It follows the path of Mardi Gras beads from the streets of a Carnival in New Orleans, where people party and exchange beads for nudity, to factories in Fuzhou, China, where teenage girls live at and sew beads together all day and night. This film exposes the inequalities of globalization and how products that people enjoy and use carelessly affect both who make and consume them.

QUESTION AND ANSWER:

Q: What are your personal assumptions about “Made in China”?

A: Nowadays you see “Made in China” everywhere on almost everything in America. I always knew that there were disciplined factories in other countries producing goods for the US, but it never really hit me hard until I actually saw this for my own eyes. It makes me sick to see young girls who have dreams for themselves, slaving away on machines all day and night, only making 10 cents an hour or 10 cents just for the day! I understand that globalizing products such as Mardi Gras beads creates work for many people who need it, but the conditions of work would be unimaginable in America. Sadly, a lot of people when asked where products come from, have no idea that the product they might have just thrown away someone slaved for it so they could put food on their table. In the documentary Mardi Gras: Made in China, when a someone was asked where the beads were made, they had no idea. Then, when they were told the answer they said something similar to “I’m just trying to get drunk and enjoy my vacation.” Products “Made in China” are overlooked in the US.

Q: Why do more and more U.S. companies manufacture and source products overseas, and why do U.S. consumers purchase these products?

A: More and more U.S. companies manufacture and source products overseas because it is cheaper for companies. Companies are realizing that they can go to developing countries where work is needed so that they can get their products made for the lowest price. To have people working in other countries for only 10 cents a day rather than making them in the United States for minimum wage of at least $5 dollars an hour, seems like a no brainer to these companies.  This way companies don’t have to spend as much on the labor but more importantly gain more profit out of their products being sold to the consumers.  U.S. consumers purchase these products for many reasons. Mainly, I believe is because of consumer ignorance against the harsh life of Chinese Factory workers. So many people do not know or understand what workers in China go through for things that we take for granted, because they are not experiencing it themselves. We are constantly corrupted with media and advertisements wanting us to buy more and value money and materialistic things in the U.S. It is hard for people to think in another way when the society you live in is surrounded by this idea.

Q: Why do factory workers in foreign factories work under the current conditions?

Sweatshop Factory in China

A: Factory workers in foreign factories work under the current conditions because they are desperate. They need the money so bad that they are willing 
to work in an unhealthy working environment. A lot of the time girls are sent to live at the factories and send money back to their families so that their family can eat or send siblings to school so they can receive an education to hopefully better their lives. To them working is for the money and that is the most important for them to survive. Same as people in the U.S. having no idea what it would be like to work in sweatshops, people working in foreign factories don't know another way of life, another way of making a living.


Q: What are the working conditions at foreign factories producing goods for the U.S. market? 

A: There is a variety of dangerous work conditions. Unfair calculations of work time, low basic wages which compel a force of overtime, a ridiculously high work intensity and working for 11-12 hours a day, underage workers, and failures for paying things such as social insurance, work-related injury insurance and other insurance that is required by law. Unfortunately there are many others....Would you work in these conditions?

  
      Q: Why do overseas factories welcome U.S. customers and investors?

A:  Overseas factories welcome U.S. customers and investors because these places need the money and it is an investment for them. Their goal is to reform their economy and by establishing business and production with wealthier countries creates more jobs for those who are desperate for it. Although the work conditions are harsh the more developed countries provide the product and what needs to be done, while overseas factories provide the labor and service to produce the product at a low cost. This not only provides jobs for countries such as Japan or China but also more work for people in the U.S.  Globalization plays a major role in this treadmill of production cycle, leaving people initially no choice but take whatever society can offer them and in order to best fit their needs and values.