Enviroment and Globalization

Another interesting discussion in my globalization class today. Something I have thought about a fair amount: Europe and America developed economically by exploiting workers (slaves, women, children, low wages, long hours, unsafe working conditions) and raping the environment.

This brings up questions with developing countries today. Many of our low skilled laborer jobs are moving to developing countries (as they historically do) but also to questionable labor standards (obviously by our standards) but possibly more importantly to lower environmental standards.

Many authors have pointed out that even low worker standards are much higher than they used to be and that low standards in factories are still better than the options of working on a farm or as a prostitute. While this is not ideal progress it still is some progress.

The bigger economic issue is that the environment is in a really bad place right now and it is LARGELY due to American industrialization and individualism since we become more developed. Even if China and India weren't developing and using more energy and polluting more than they used to Americans would/should still cut back on their energy consumption and pollution drastically. The argument that I have heard (and heard widely reiterated in my globalization class) is that it is unfair to put American environmental standards into our trade agreements with others because since we polluted to develop it would be hypocritical of us to not allow other countries to develop by being horrible polluters.

The problem with this is that the world can't afford to let this happen. I agree it is a dick move for us to ruin the world by polluting too much and then hindering others growth by telling them not to develop as unfettered as we did. My solution wouldn't be to allow everyone to pollute as much as they want but to have America subsidize other countries clean efforts to not make the developing countries bear the entire brunt of the costlier development. If we are able to do this and keep strict environmental regulations then I think that the world community should also be able to enforce strict regulations on America's pollution levels to cap them and then bring them down with harsh fines for failure to comply.

I think this is the only way to save the environment and expand the international economy responsibly because two wrongs do not make a right. We need to both atone for our atrocious wrong and prevent others from making the same mistakes.