When I saw Nicholas Kristof's column on sweatshops last week (Where Sweatshops Are a Dream), I just rolled my eyes, since this is an argument that he has been making for years now.
I was pleased to see that there were so many letters lambasting him a few days later. The one I liked best pointed out that Cambodia, the country Kristof focuses on in this latest column, doesn't exactly support his case: "Cambodian garment shops are among the best in Asia because of a deal done with the United States in a trade treaty signed in 1999." But Kristof's apologetics undermine the very labor agreements that would bring that about.
D&S columnist John Millerwrote against Kristof on this topic a couple of years ago, in his article Nike to the Rescue?, back when the globe-trotting Kristof was praising sweatshops in Namibia. Here's what John had to say then:
Part of John's response:
The whole article is worth a read, though it's dismaying that we still have to be making these arguments. Someone needs to take away Kristof's passport before he spreads his apologetics to even more corners of the earth.