CHINESE PRISON LABORERS ARE TRYING TO REACH YOU …
Women in Arizona and North Carolina have discovered notes from Chinese prison laborers hidden inside purses purchased at Walmart. According to the letter-writers, the laborers are beaten and starved – and forced to pay for their own medicine out of their meager wages when they get sick.
According to KVOA TV-4 (Tucson, Arizona), one of the notes was found “folded up … inside a zipper compartment.”
Here is the note itself …
(Click to view)
(Via KVOA)
And here is its translation …
Inmates in the Yingshan Prison in Guangxi, China are working 14 hours daily with no break/rest at noon, continue working overtime until 12 midnight, and whoever doesn’t finish his work will be beaten. Their meals are without oil and salt. Every month, the boss pays the inmate 2000 yuan, any additional dishes will be finished by the police. If the inmates are sick and need medicine, the cost will be deducted from the salary. Prison in China is unlike prison in America, (with inmates treated like) horse cow goat pig dog.
Wow …
We’re all for free trade (as opposed to government-rigged trade) but this is certainly something worth considering as you engage the retail economy – to the extent American consumers are able to do that these days.
Of course there’s an interesting conundrum here … assuming you chose to “Buy American” and avoid Walmart and its alleged Chinese prison labor supply chain, what exactly does that do to benefit the author of this note?
Good question …
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