Day 114: The Psychology of Crimes against Life: Capitalism Part 2 Death in the work place - the solution

This blog is a follow up on:

Day 113: The Psychology of Crimes against Life: Capitalism Part 1: Death in the work place.

"MUMBAI, INDIA — Global clothing brands involved in Bangladesh’s troubled garment industry responded in starkly different ways to the building collapse that killed more than 600 people.

Some quickly acknowledged their links to the tragedy and promised compensation. Others denied they authorized work at factories in the building even when their labels were found in the rubble. 

The first approach seems to deserve plaudits for honesty and compassion. The second seems calculated to minimize damage to a brand by maximizing distance from the disaster. Communications professionals say both are public relations strategies and neither may be enough to protect companies from the stain of doing business in Bangladesh.

There have been several deadly disasters and fires in Bangladesh’s $20 billion garment industry in the past six months. A factory fire killed 112 workers in November and a January blaze killed seven. As a result, experts say, possibly the only way retailers and clothing brands can protect their reputations is to visibly and genuinely work to overhaul safety in Bangladesh’s garment factories.

“Just public relations is not going to do it,” said Caroline Sapriel, managing director of CS&A, a firm that specializes in crisis reputation management.

Minimum wage: $38 monthly 

Over the past decade major players in the fashion industry have flocked to Bangladesh, where a minimum wage of about $38 a month has helped boost profits in a global business worth $1 trillion a year. Clothing and textiles now make up 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports and employ several million people.

Yet the country’s worker safety record has become so notorious that the reputational risks of doing business there may have become too great — even for retailers and brands that didn’t work with factories in the collapsed Rana Plaza building or the Tazreen Fashions factory that burned late last year.

“I don’t think it’s enough any more to say, ‘We’re not involved in these particular factories,’ ” Sapriel said. 

Many clothing brands were quick to distance themselves from the five factories that were housed in Rana Plaza. The building, which was not designed for industrial use and had three illegally added levels, collapsed April 24.

Labels found in rubble 

Benetton said none of the factories was its authorized supplier, although Benetton labels were found in the rubble. Spain’s Mango said it hadn’t bought clothing from Rana Plaza factories but acknowledged it had been in talks with one factory to produce a test batch of clothing.

German clothing company KiK said it was “surprised, shocked and appalled” to learn its T-shirts and tops were found in the rubble. The company said it stopped doing business with the Rana Plaza factories in 2008. It promised an investigation.

Wal-Mart said there was no authorized production of its clothing lines at Rana Plaza but it was investigating whether there was unapproved subcontracting. Swedish retailer H&M, the single largest customer of Bangladeshi garment factories, said none of its clothes was produced there.

The Walt Disney Co. in March responded to publicity from last year’s fire at the Tazreen factory, where its branded clothing was found, by pulling out of Bangladesh production altogether.

A few come forward 

Only a few companies, including Britain’s Primark and Canada’s Loblaw Inc., which owns the Joe Fresh clothing line, have acknowledged production at Rana Plaza and promised compensation. Loblaw’s CEO said there were 28 other brands and retailers using the five factories and urged them to end their “deafening silence.” 

Companies downplaying involvement in Bangladesh’s factory safety problems may be counting on the short memories of Western consumers, who tend to focus on price and may not even check where a piece of clothing has been made. But that’s a risky strategy, said Rahul Sharma, public affairs executive with the India-based public relations firm Genesis Burston-Marsteller. 

“Reputation is built over a long period of time. But to lose it, it can take seconds,” Sharma said. 

Sharma said that if he were advising any retailer doing business in Bangladesh, he would recommend swift action in the form of a concrete plan to overhaul the entire industry, working with government, factory owners and labor unions. 

“They need to send out the message that they are addressing this problem — and then they need to actually do it,” he said."

Source: http://www.tennessean.com/viewart/20130507/BUSINESS01/305070035/Reputations-risk-Bangladesh-after-building-collapse


 Following up on the previous blog with examples of tragedies in the work place - considering for myself as I am sure you have done - whether I would find this type of living acceptable for myself or others - I answered NO. Look for yourself at the reason and purpose of 'working' - for the 'working-class' it has become an ABSOLUTE point of survival without it you are pretty 'screwed' and within it you are still limited to a life of survival depending on the job you get and the debt bracket you find yourself in. Either way - life on this planet - has unfortunately become about supporting those who have money to make more money. Therefore the rich are not the ones to die in these tragic accidents - because they send the working force as cheap labour - cheap lives - to do literally 'the dirty work'.

All other aspects of our lives are then also controlled for one outcome - profit an greed. Therefore most are unable to afford health care, a comfortable life style, sufficient nutrition, clean water, a decent education etc - all the things which the human physical (and animal) body requires to sustain its Life.

This becomes the next question then doesn't it - why do we value our own lives so much that we would go into extreme forms of fear - at the idea or picture of our lives plummeting into such disastrous circumstances - all for the purpose of making a few rich -and yet we do not consider that others also do not want to DIE and/or live in suffering and misery? Therefore we see here another example of the Human Psychology behind suffering - we accept that suffering is a 'natural' part of life - which indicates Mental Dysfunction from my perspective - and then we wil actually within our society 'filter' who we believe should we selected - before us (please 'god') - to be placed in these situations of suffering and abuse.

For example - all humans secretly believe that it is ok for those who are suffering in these minimum-wage slave labour situations to be there and also secretly believe that there is a divine plan by some cosmic foce why it is happening 'to them' and not me. Again looking at the Mind-set of the serial killer, mass murderer and one prone to violent crimes - as I covered in previous blogs - we can draw a parallel here between the Psychotic Mind Set - of taking the lives of others and inflicting suffering for 'my survival and pleasure'. This is the common denominator between all who stand by and allow abuse to others - so that 'my self-interest/freedom of choice' is maintained. Why else would we all firstly as society accept the harsh living conditions of a large portion of the world population and then SECONDLY and most curiously - we will defend the same system that are responsible for the suffering of millions - by a) fighting to keep the same system because we dont want others to have what we do and even b) threatening any new system that works towards the removal of all corruptive/life abusive systems - to work with the implementation of Life-Supportive Systems...


Further reading: 


 http://marlenvargasdelrazo.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/287-you-get-happy-with-your-paycheck/

http://marlenvargasdelrazo.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/289-our-lives-as-money-making-machines/

http://marlenvargasdelrazo.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/290-how-to-end-slave-servility-equal-money/



Interviews:

Bernard Poolman - What the FAQ - Equal Money System

Life Review - The relationship between Fear of Death and Money