And they Said Capitalism Would Bring Freedom to China

by John Young

For decades we have heard proponents of globalism and global trade argue that bringing capitalism to China would painlessly increase the level of freedom in that oppressed nation.

So far, no dice. In fact, it is arguable that matters have gotten materially worse.

The New York Daily News has reported truly brutal conditions for workers in a Chinese capitalist enterprise that subcontracts work for the globalist software giant Microsoft.

KYE Systems is a Chinese sweatshop that handles work for such international corporations as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Logitech and Acer among others. Spokesmen for the company say that their labor practices are fully in compliance with Chinese labor laws; which should tell us something once we see what conditions are like for workers at KYE Systems.

According to a report by the National Labour Committee, a human rights group based in Pittsburgh; KYE prefers to hire only women aged 18 to 25, because it considers them “easier to control.” However, pictures smuggled out of the plant indicate some of the workers may be as young as 14. This is unsurprising as the NLC’s report indicates that KYE also hires so-called “work-study” students younger than 16.

Workers are paid 65 cents and hour, from which ten cents are deducted to pay for food. They work 15 hour shifts six or seven days a week; sleep in bunk-beds with fourteen workers per room; and endure near-constant sexual harassment by guards who do not allow them to talk, listen to music or even use the bathroom during their long shifts.

Cleanliness is at a premium as well; as the workers are limited to sponge baths from a bucket of water. And they likely need showers as temperatures in the plant are as hot as 86 degrees.

Just for the record, women forced to endure groping by armed guards in order to eat, are not free.

We have surrendered our own autonomy and quality of life. And for what? Certainly not for freedom.