[sfifs]

Question - when the US, Europe and Japan were industrializing from 1880s through 1960s and dragged everyone into disastrous wars, did any other market complain about worker safety or abuse or pollution (the famous London fog etc.) and refuse to buy products?

When now other nations are going through an industrialization phase that's actually far more respectful of worker rights than the West's industrialization was, why complain?

[manarth]

  "did any other market complain about worker safety or abuse or pollution and refuse to buy products?"

Pre-industrial revolution, living conditions were pretty poor working conditions were pretty poor life expectancy was pretty poor, so it wasn't exactly making things worse. Despite all the problems caused by industrialisation, it was still a net positive.

Now that we've progressed through industrialisation to a point where life expectancy has dramatically improved, along with living conditions and all the rest, it's given us a point of comparison.

Countries that are going through an industrialisation phase aren't being criticised in comparison to a pre-industrialisation state, they're being criticised in comparison to what other post-industrialised countries have achieved. Sure, it's an unfair comparison, but the first time around, that comparison didn't exist.

[gertef]

Indonesian people weren't buying Europe's products and reaping the benefits of the London smog, modern US/European/Japanese people are enjoying the benefits of modern exploitative labor in Indonesia.

What gives you the illusion that other nations are more respectful of worker rights than the US/EU was in the past?

China's cities are poisoned with smog today, for just one example.