Blog 11

Bhagwati’s Defending Sweatshops piece is definitely thought provoking. It made me realize a perspective that I hadn’t very much thought of in the past, that sweatshops might be a relatively “good thing”.  He argues that many people depend on this grueling work for their livelihood, and that trying to boycott large corporations that use these cheap goods may actually prove to destroy lives rather than help them.  This also goes back to what Bhagwati describes as using distance to makes oneself more comfortable with something they consider immoral.  Unfortunately, this distance also creates ignorance for someone that Bhagwati calls being on “moral high ground”. I have to agree with Bhagwati on both of his points. I would rather know that someone is working in grueling and possibly dangerous conditions than destroy their entire livelihood as a whole. It doesn’t mean that something can’t be done in an attempt to help improve the conditions of these sweatshops. I also think there are a lot of cases in which people will be affected by something immoral once the distance between said person and said immorality is removed.