> Los Angeles Times
>
>                                  April 25, 2001, Wednesday, Home Edition
>
> SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 9; Op Ed Desk
>
> LENGTH: 798 words
>
> HEADLINE: COMMENTARY;
> A SWEATSHOP IS BETTER THAN NOTHING
>
> BYLINE: DANIEL L. JACOBS, Daniel L. Jacobs, a native of Los Angeles, is a
sophomore at, Williams College in
> Williamstown, Mass
>
>
> BODY:
> Last month, after I wrote my final college tuition check of the year, I
still had $ 1,000 left in the bank. After a good deal of
> research, I decided my money had the most potential for growth in an
international fund that invests heavily in emerging
> economies.
>
> That night, I called my father, who is neither a practiced nor a
successful investor, to inform him of my decision. An international
> fund puts money in developing global markets like the Philippines, China,
Poland and Mexico.
>
> Knowing my father's position on many issues concerning global politics, I
should have expected his response: How could I
> contribute to a fund that surely sustains companies that invest or
invested in child labor, sweat shops and other practices that
> demean humanity? How could I live with myself, knowing that I was helping
to maintain and condone practices that are not
> tolerated in the U.S.?
>
> They are good questions, they are inevitable questions, and they are
questions that need to be addressed on a national and global
> stage, especially now that the market economy has transcended so many
boundaries worldwide. I've answered his questions and,
> despite the recent protests by environmentalists and labor representatives
at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City over
> global commerce, I'm resolved to invest in corporations and countries that
fundamentally reject the Western ideal of universal
> human rights.
>
> I am not concerned with exploitation of workers, because I know my
investments will help make the people of those countries
> better off than they are.
>
> Living in the United States, many of us grow up with the skewed notion
that our values and experiences are the right ones. So
> many of us believe the world would be a happier, nicer and better place if
developing nations could or would just adopt the morals,
> virtues, values and experiences that America represents.
>
> Unfortunately, this ideal can't be applied in the rest of the world.
Developing countries have their own particular problems,
> particular religions and particular values, morals and histories.
Sometimes, we Americans have to realize that other people see
> their world through their own eyes and not ours. Sometimes working for a
sweatshop, for example, is the best that they can
> expect. Sometimes 25 cents an hour is a whole lot better than nothing at
all.
>
> How do you jump-start an economy whose people lack the facility and
sophistication to take advantage of their nation's resources?
> Encouraging internal trade isn't the answer, because most of these
countries have little to trade and not enough capital to circulate
> through their economies and use to generate more capital.
>
> In order for a developing country to begin exporting goods and get money
circulating, it must encourage foreign investment, which
> sustains new economies by developing new industries that attract a
domestic work force.
>
> I'm fully aware that foreign investors put money into developing countries
to exploit cheap labor. But they are also generating
> money that wasn't there before, money that can be used for further
development. Investors like myself are giving developing
> countries a better chance at growth, something they probably couldn't
accomplish otherwise.
>
> And still so many of us choose to see injustice in this type of global
investment. We investors can still make our choices--and from
> comfortable seats in which we can leisurely watch the injustices unfold on
CNN. We choose to see the 7-year-old girls from India
> sitting at looms for hours everyday, weaving rugs so that they can bring
home $ 10 a month to help their families. Many of us,
> though, choose not to see the little girl who is not working and is
starving because her family doesn't have the money to feed her.
>
> We choose to see the Mauritanian who works 18-hour days in the fields,
only to come home to a blanket, a little food and a small
> paycheck. We choose not to see the jobless Mauritanians, the ones lying on
the streets, without food, who may end up lifeless. We
> choose to see the people who have taken the first step toward helping
themselves. We choose not to see the ones lying dead
> because they did not have work.
>
> The questions for the investor seem harrowing. Do we invest in
corporations that we know are exploiting labor in ways that would
> never be permitted in the U.S.? Or, do we decide not to invest in these
companies, choosing instead to entrust our money to
> companies with more American ideals?
>
> I choose not to be swayed by the pictures on CNN or by the push for
universal labor standards. I choose to put my paltry $ 1,000
> into an international fund that invests in labor-exploiting corporations,
because I am not afraid to see the world through the eyes of
> those my money will benefit and not the eyes of America.
>
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