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Globalism -- Weighing Comparative Outsourcing Essay

Another example of unethical globalization choices would be the irresponsible exploitation of child labor and, more generally, of extremely poor societies where local populations have no choice but to work long hours for pennies a day. In that regard, it is fundamentally unethical for product manufacturers based in nations with public policies and laws that prohibit exploitative wages and working conditions to outsource their manufacturing processes to foreign nations where there are no such local restrictions.

It may be perfectly acceptable for an American athletic footwear company to employ foreign labor to take advantage of generally lower wages by American standards that still provide humane working conditions and a livable wage to employees. It is another matter entirely to exploit foreign populations living in abject poverty without doing anything to improve their lives or provide a livable wage. Similarly, there is nothing necessarily wrong for an American company...

However, for American companies to export materials classified under federal law as "toxic waste" (such as many computer hardware components) to foreign nations where poor workers perform dangerous and life-threatening work that would be strictly prohibited in the U.S. In parts of China, for example, extremely poor people (including very young children) work long hours burning and melting computer hardware components to extract minute quantities of precious metals for recycling plants.
As is the case with many human affairs in business and elsewhere, what determines the ethical nature of practices and business decisions in connection with globalism are not determined as much by absolutes but much more by complex interrelationships of the issues involved. Ultimately, globalism presents both tremendous business opportunities as well as temptations to pursue some of those benefits in an unethical manner.

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