Sweatshops Quotes

“Hours are long. Wages are pitiful. But sweatshops are the symptom, not the cause, of shocking global poverty. Workers go there voluntarily, which means—hard as it is to believe—that whatever their alternatives are, they are worse. They stay there, too; turnover rates of multinational-owned factories are low, because conditions and pay, while bad, are better than those in factories run by local firms. And even a local company is likely to pay better than trying to earn money without a job: running an illegal street stall, working as a prostitute, or combing reeking landfills in cities like Manila to find recyclable goods.”
― Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist

“Democracy is supposed to be ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. Capitalism is ‘of the capitalist, for the capitalist’. Period.”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“Honey, it isn’t democracy that runs this country. Capitalism rules. It does no good to reason with the capitalists or their politicians. This is a class war. We have to stir up the American people, the lower class. Some of the better-off lower class do show some sympathy for us when they’re smacked with the facts. And when they voice themselves collectively, good things happen.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash

“I am a citizen of this country,” I declare, “and Mr. Mayor, tonight I will be a citizen of this city when I put my shoes under my bed. The courageous men, women and children who are with me (blocked from crossing the bridge into NYC) are also citizens of this country and will be sleeping near their shoes too. I want them with me tonight, here, in the city of New York. We are all American citizens.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash

“That’s got to stop,” says I. “The idea of any blood-thirsty pirate (Mexican President Diaz) sitting on a throne and reaching across the border to tromp on our Constitution makes my blood boil.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“Turning back to the crowd I say, “I am duty bound to make this plea, but I want to say, with all due respect to the governor here, that I doubt seriously that he will do — cannot do — anything. And for the reason that he is owned, lock, stock and barrel, by the capitalists who placed him here in this building.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“To the RKO motion picture camera at her 100th birthday party: “I pray for the day when working men and women are able to earn a fair share of the wealth they produce in a capitalist system, a day when all Americans are able to enjoy the freedom, rights and opportunities guaranteed them by the Constitution of the United States of America.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“Go home now,” says I. “Keep away from the saloons. Save your money. You are going to need it.”
“What are we going to need it for?” asks a voice from the crowd.
“For guns and ammunition,” says I.”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“What do you see out there?” I ask.
“Pittsburgh,” he replies. Now I laugh. “No, young man. What you see is hell with the lid taken off.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“What the hell’s the matter with you men? Are you cowards as well as stupid? You boys make me sick. I’m done with you. You hear me? I want you to go back to your places now and stay with your children until I say you’re needed.
“Tell your wives and your older children to bring with them dish pans and cooking pots. Tell them to bring their stirring spoons and ladles. Tell them to carry a mop over their shoulders. We’re goin’ to march on that mine and we’re going to stand guard to see that no scabs are allowed in. Do you hear me?” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“I go back to the union man and say, “Sir, this is a house of God, not a proper place for a union meeting. I have some things to say today that God would not want to hear in His own house. Boys, I want you to get up, every one of you, and go across the road. I want you to sit down on the hillside over there and wait for me to speak to you.”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“Well, honey, it’s capitalism that brings out the meanness and greed,” says I. “Our founding fathers did a decent job of framing our democracy. They wrote the Constitution and added a Bill of Rights that intended for people of all classes to enjoy the freedoms the Constitution offers. But capitalism came along without a constitution or a bill of rights and the industrialists grabbed unrestricted power. The capitalists wrote their own ‘Declaration of Capitalism’.” — Mother Jones”
― Jerry Ash, Hellraiser—Mother Jones: An Historical Novel

“I hope things get better, but it's a difficult process,' Foudy said. 'You're dealing with governments that don't care about children working. And it's hard to put our Western ideals on their situations. If you don't pay people enough so they can survive with only the father or mother working, how can they expect the kids not to work?”
― Jere Longman, The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World – A Provocative Look at 1999 Role Models and Off-Field Race, Class, and Gender Issues

“As one unusually self-critical textile factory owner observed to me, reflecting on the system in which she played a nodal role, "There used to be a time when you could be a capitalist with personality. You could make your own decisions about what kind of ethos you wanted to create. Now it does not matter if you are a 'nice' person. It is completely irrelevant. We live in an age hen we all know what we do is disgusting but we still carry on doing it. The system we are part of feeds on desperation. And any system that demands such levels of desperation will produce more and more disorder, and the only way to keep everything in check will be the increasing militarisation of the world.”
― Rana Dasgupta, Capital: The Eruption of Delhi by Rana Dasgupta (6-Mar-2014) Hardcover

“Because in America there is a naive belief that we are all rugged individuals and can make it on our own, stock market and banking regulations became nonexistent. Consequently, on October 24, 1929, the New York Stock Market crashed, ushering in the “Great Depression.” It became a human tragedy that could have and should have been prevented!
Well, not everyone was dancing anymore. The vast middle class was struggling; coal miners were still digging for the dirty black energy, deep within the earth and only getting black lung disease for their efforts. Farmers worked long hours to sow and harvest uncertain crops and the new immigrants just off the boat, worked for very small returns in the many unregulated sweatshops.”
― Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One...."

“הבגדים שלהם נראים זולים. בוודאי רכשו אותם באיזשהו שוק או בחנויות סמרטוטים שמייבאות את הסחורה הזבלונית שלהן מהמזרח הרחוק. מכנסי ג׳ינס ב־2 יורו שתפרה ילדה בת 10 במפעל בסרי לנקה אחרי 12 שעות עבודה רצופות שבהן קיבלה הפסקה אחת של 25 דקות כדי שתוכל לאכול מנת אורז מתוך קופסת פלסטיק ואז תחזור לכיסא שלה, שנמצא במרכזה של שורת כיסאות ארוכה שבה עוד 50 ילדות שקועות בעבודה ולא מסירות את מבטן ממכונת התפירה. כל כך הרבה צער שמושקע בבגד כל כך מכוער.”
― Nissan Shor, הישראלי הנצחי

“There's also an advisory board that's very into"--I made air quotes--"'optimal productivity.' Some theory about how productivity increases when workers don't know what their work is going to be each day. Switching from one task to another helps employees adapt and become more nimble? Something like that."

"Well, that's completely psychotic," Sailor said, but in an unsurprised way. "Wonder how many members of this illustrious advisory board own sweatshop empires, am I right?”
― Emma Sloley, The Island of Last Things