From Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector

From the article entitled Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector, I stopped on the following line: “ I suspect, however, that the fault lay with Wal-Mart as much as with the inspectors. I say this because there's a broader point here: Monitoring by itself is meaningless. It only works when the company that's commissioning it has a sincere interest in improving the situation.” It almost seems to have brought the semester back full circle to the Kantian argument that noble intentions are not enough if they are not performed for the right reason. If Wal-Mart is hiring compliance regulators to find labor violations, it must be with the intent of doing real human rights work. If it is simply due diligence to keep the press unaware of such activities, then it is no longer a moral action. This will tie in to my discussion of Title IX enforcement and how it must be followed in spirit and with truly universal good intentions, not just to make a gesture of compliance for the community.

I further the support that the author makes about the flagrant immorality that stems for the bad behavior of a supplier sullying the good name of an otherwise compliant company with regards to working standards. This is the new challenge of globalization and as the United States continues to rely on imports during a lagging domestic production cycle, it is more important than ever to be aware of the conditions of the workers even if they are not within our borders.