Anyone who knows me knows that I am pro Australian Made...even more so WAHM (work at home mum) made.
I like the idea of supporting Aussie families, giving our young'uns jobs and helping mums to be able to afford to stay home with their kids.
After all, I am one of those mums, and my kids will all too soon be those young'uns.
And then there's the fact that many of the overseas factories that mass produce the cheaper products on the market use child labour and waaaaay underpay their workers, and I definitely do NOT support that.
But lately I have been thinking a little bit about the other side of the coin.
What about those children and families over in China and other countries? They may not get paid much for the work that they do, but what they do get paid puts food on their families' tables.
If I boycott all overseas manufactured products, will that change their plight? NO!
If all of Australia, all of the Western World boycotts these products, will that make a difference? Maybe, but would it be a positive one? I'm not sure.
If these factories close and these families become unemployed then who will put food on their tables? Certainly not their governments, and humanitarian agencies are already stretched to the limit.
So what is the solution...to be honest I have no idea.
As I said I can NOT support child labour, but neither do I support child hunger...in Australia, in India, in Africa, in China or in ANY country.
Kinda makes you think doesn't it?
I guess when they become redundant because we boycott their produce, they can apply to become residents here and then ozzies can moan about lack of jobs available to us here. :)or apply to our governments for assistance. Then again perhaps our children who have the opportunity to stay at school could upgrade their skills to get better jobs than what the children working to support their families have. Maybe one of them will have the skills to work it out better than we have and fix the world too ...yeh, I have no idea either :)
ReplyDeleteThere are sooo many factors contributing to this issue...and yes education....if only our children could see what a PRIVILEGE it is to be able to have an education.
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