built for glory

Talking with a new friend about her MCC term in Laos, we began to discuss the third world/first world dilemma. So often, people get caught up in an Adbusters mentality that involves boycotting sweatshops and child labour, etc. Not that these things are good, but the alternative seems to be all too often worse. Nick Kristof had a little bit on this: Look, I feel like Scrooge when I speak out against bans on sweatshops or on child labor. In the West, it's hard to find anyone outside a university economics department who agrees with me. But the basic Western attitude — particularly among Democrats and warm-and-fuzzy humanitarians — sometimes ends up making things worse. Maybe change has to begin with food and education, and then we can move on to better work environments.