[CmonDev]

There is no guaranteed minimum income even in developed nations (not even with those huge debts). Most likely thing to happen is that those sweatshops will become automated and the population will have to drop to pre-industrialisation levels.

[fmdud]

I've never been a big fan of the "it would be OK if they all just went away" line of thinking.

[CmonDev]

I did not say it's OK, this just a likely scenario, unfortunately.

[Cederfjard]

I'm sorry, can you explain to me how your statement relates to your parent comment? That's a genuine question, I'm frustrated because I'm confused about what you mean. Where did s/he say anything that can be construed as "it would be OK if they all just went away", and what does that even mean in this context? Excuse me if I'm being dumb right now.

[pingswept]

Referring to this part, I suspect: "population will have to drop to pre-industrialisation levels"

[Cederfjard]

Thanks, I can kinda see it now.

[johnchristopher]

There seems to exist a tendency to move sweatshops to countries with less effective work(er) protection laws rather than automating jobs (eg: from China to Vietnam and so on).

[TeMPOraL]

That's because people are still cheaper than robots. This won't last forever if current trends continue.

[xorcist]

But it will, as long as you can lock up children and force them to work off some debt.

Free labour is one of the things which led to the fall of the Roman empire. Nobody needs technology when you have slaves. And there are a lot of slaves in the world, just read the latest UN report on it.

[TeMPOraL]

But poor children still need to eat, sleep and it takes a while to replace them when they wear out. Machines on the other hand can run 24/7, on just electricity, and there are both practical and economical systems already in place that will let you replace broken ones with new ones quickly. I think machines will be cheaper long before sweatshops run out of children.

[CmonDev]

Also: higher quality and a feel-good brand factor "we don't use child labor anymore".

[xorcist]

That has been tried and didn't work. Neither did cheaper machines. Remember that textile machines pretty much gave birth to industrial automation, so the technology is as tried and cheap as it gets. Still not enough.

[Cederfjard]

Yes, but that is under current circumstances, which will probably not remain fixed forever, right? How long before that dynamic changes and automation is suddenly better, closer to home AND cheaper?

[macarthy12]

The "tendency" was due to american protectionism and quotas introduced during the nixon era google the "Multi-Fiber Arrangement"

[johnchristopher]

Interesting, indeed.