Strange article for the normally Libertarian crowd here.
Why would a worker work at one of these farms? Because it's better, or they think it's better, than their best alternative. The same reason that many Chinese workers work at factories now instead of farms.
Before you think I'm an asshole, I am very much looking forward to the time when everyone has the standard of living that we enjoy in "the West", but you don't get there by charity or boycotts.
The main problem is that they probably get lied to, so think it's better than their best alternative, when it's not.
What can HN readers do about that? Off the top of my head, you could contact the reporter, and make a website (in Spanish) with the good farms, and the bad ones, so at least a few farmers could avoid the bad ones. Or let the farmers post reviews and ratings. Yelp for Mexican farms. Support cheap internet in Mexico. Support the Mexican equivalent of the ACLU.
It is not crazy to want your money to go to companies that treat their employees humanely. This article literally describes instances of slave labor: farmers receiving just barely the necessities of survival and forcefully detained in work camps where food is witheld from anyone who chooses to work. To argue that the best solution is to create a more perfect market is bullshit. These practices are wrong, immoral, criminal and need to be forcefully stopped by the Mexican government. And when the government is ineffective, American consumers need to demand that companies actively ensure that they are not part of the problem.
These people go hungry day to day, and your solution is Yelp for Mexican farms? These people don't have internet connected devices, and if they did they wouldn't have internet. They don't have running water! The article discusses the uselessness of the courts for redressing these problems. A Mexican ACLU is a non-starter when Mexico's courts are disfunctional.
Strange article for a Libertarian crowd? Because Libertarians like to pretend everything in the world is rainbows and butterflies? Bullshit. This article is entirely descriptive. Nowhere does it prescribe any particular solution. That is left as an exercise for the reader. Unless being Libertarian means you don't give a rat's ass about human suffering, there is no reason Libertarians wouldn't be disheartened by this story.
To some extent, you can choose not to spend your money at companies that are known to exploit their workers. You can buy USA produce, which is produced under better conditions. Mexican leadership can put the country in order to win back the American customer.
>You can buy USA produce, which is produced under better conditions.
Just because it's produced in USA doesn't mean it has better conditions. As an example: Think of an illegal immigrant, they'll get paid lower than minimum wage since the patron is having the risk of a fine or something, plus they don't speak the language or simply don't know their rights.
To some this is still better than back at home, and some who do it to send money back home still get to send more than if they lived in their country, through exchange rates.
There was a documentary thing about this, someone who got paid cents for each bucket full of tomatoes they picked. I can't find it right now.
What can HN readers do about that? Off the top of my head, you could contact the reporter, and make a website (in Spanish) with the good farms, and the bad ones, so at least a few farmers could avoid the bad ones. Or let the farmers post reviews and ratings.
Excellent strategy. BTW there's a name for the practice of avoiding produce from farms with consistently bad ratings. It's called "boycotting."
Mexico can get there if it chooses to. If it enacted structural reforms, cleaned up its corruption, and set economic growth targets, it could get to 70-80% of US gdp by 2030.
The problem is with Mexican government which is rotten and self serving.
Why would a worker work at one of these farms? Because it's better, or they think it's better, than their best alternative. The same reason that many Chinese workers work at factories now instead of farms.
As Krugman would say "Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all". http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/19...
Before you think I'm an asshole, I am very much looking forward to the time when everyone has the standard of living that we enjoy in "the West", but you don't get there by charity or boycotts.
The main problem is that they probably get lied to, so think it's better than their best alternative, when it's not.
What can HN readers do about that? Off the top of my head, you could contact the reporter, and make a website (in Spanish) with the good farms, and the bad ones, so at least a few farmers could avoid the bad ones. Or let the farmers post reviews and ratings. Yelp for Mexican farms. Support cheap internet in Mexico. Support the Mexican equivalent of the ACLU.
Better information is the answer.