ACORN

[kandrathe]

This is ethical so wrong. Why don't you give (or sell) home chemical waste (paint, batteries etc.) to a slightly retarded neighbor for his kids to play with. You know what is going to happen, so you should stop.

This behavior, you and Pete say is simple economics,would never stand up in court were it to be a national thing. I (we) understand how supply and demand work, you don't need to write that down again and again.
I am not a lawyer but am almost sure the people that do this things violate some kind of law.The fact that they will 'never' be prosecuted doesn't make it legal.

I am thinking in an ethical way while you in a pure theoretical way. That is why will never agree on this, so I guess this was my last reaction on the matter.

You are thinking in a messed up ideological way. I'm being a realist (pragmatist), as Pete says. If I give poison to the neighborhood children, then yes, it is unethical. If I go to my local market and buy Nike tennis shoes made in Singapore, how would I ever know what process got them to my locality?

I have the choice of a consumer. If some company is exploiting the ignorant poor, child or slave labor, or is in turn buying materials from someone else who is, then my moral responsibility stops at my buying choice and then also at the nations borders. My personal responsibility for land stops at my property, although I have a vote in what happens in my community, State, and Nation. Governments have the responsibility to protect the people and environment of their nations. Companies have a responsibility to follow the laws of their nation, and morally to deliver the product as advertised. You would have each of us take on the burden of all sins committed in this world, and ostensibly then petition our governments to right these wrongs.

Frankly, I have no idea how "ethical" the chain of materials and labor are for the products I buy. Many are made in SE Asia. I just know that I need them, and so I buy them. Did the metal come from a strip mine? Were the tailings properly handled? Did the wood come from a old growth forest or rain forest? Was the product built by prisoners or children? Are the workers crammed into tiny stalls for 14 hours a day? I don't know. Not much has changed in this regard since nations have been trading goods. Do people in your nation acknowledge their continuing role in the blood diamond trade?

If some nation does not regulate their industries to protect its people or environment, then it's that nation's government that is irresponsible or immoral.