60 Minutes in China

[IllinoisDave]

They have a segment on tonight about e-waste in Guiyu. Apparently things got a little "testy" with some of the overseers at a dump.

[Guest WenDylan]

THE WASTELAND- Where do the millions of computer monitors, cell phones and other electronic refuse our society generates end up? Some of it is shipped illegally from the U.S. to China, reports Scott Pelley, where it is harming the environment and the people who salvage its valuable components. Solly Granatstein is the producer.

 

Cool, thanks! Time to find a television!

[IllinoisDave]

American greed plus Chinese desperation equals putting poor people's lives at risk.

[rogerluli]

Here's the 60 Minutes article...

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/...in4579229.shtml

 

As Pogo used to say..."We have found the enemy and he is us"...

 

Sad, horrifc, disgusting...You make the call...I hope everybody watched this...And a big thanks to Dave for posting it...

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

I think 60-minutes in China is the same as 60-minutes in the US; but, lemme check, one, two, three...

[Guest WenDylan]

American greed plus Chinese desperation equals putting poor people's lives at risk.

I missed it, but I caught the Ted Turner thing.

[IllinoisDave]

Here's the 60 Minutes article...

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/...in4579229.shtml

 

As Pogo used to say..."We have found the enemy and he is us"...

 

Sad, horrifc, disgusting...You make the call...I hope everybody watched this...And a big thanks to Dave for posting it...

I'll keep an eye out for the video version and post it when it hits youtube.

[Guest WenDylan]

Here's the 60 Minutes article...

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/...in4579229.shtml

 

As Pogo used to say..."We have found the enemy and he is us"...

 

Sad, horrifc, disgusting...You make the call...I hope everybody watched this...And a big thanks to Dave for posting it...

I'll keep an eye out for the video version and post it when it hits youtube.

Thank you.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Maybe they'll do an article on how China's poor, do the best they can with what they have. Sounds like a good way to make a little money. China has never taken very kindly to foreigners coming over to get stories and presenting the country in a negative light.

Edited November 10, 2008 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)

[IllinoisDave]

Here's the 60 Minutes article...

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/...in4579229.shtml

 

As Pogo used to say..."We have found the enemy and he is us"... B)

 

Sad, horrifc, disgusting...You make the call...I hope everybody watched this...And a big thanks to Dave for posting it...

I'll keep an eye out for the video version and post it when it hits youtube.

Thank you.

Here ya go. Click on "The Electronic Wasteland" video about 1/3 of the way down.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

[Guest WenDylan]

Here's the 60 Minutes article...

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/...in4579229.shtml

 

As Pogo used to say..."We have found the enemy and he is us"... B)

 

Sad, horrifc, disgusting...You make the call...I hope everybody watched this...And a big thanks to Dave for posting it...

I'll keep an eye out for the video version and post it when it hits youtube.

Thank you.

Here ya go. Click on "The Electronic Wasteland" video about 1/3 of the way down.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

Alright! Cool!

[IllinoisDave]

Maybe they'll do an article on how China's poor, do the best they can with what they have. Sounds like a good way to make a little money.

Watch the video Jesse. Because that's one of the points of the piece. Yeah, it's a good way to make a little money...while you're being directly poisoned with toxic chemicals.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Maybe they'll do an article on how China's poor, do the best they can with what they have. Sounds like a good way to make a little money.

Watch the video Jesse. Because that's one of the points of the piece. Yeah, it's a good way to make a little money...while you're being directly poisoned with toxic chemicals.

 

I know Dave. Watching to poor of China can be pretty heart-wrenching. It is indeed a side of China that easily turns the hearts and stomachs of Westerners. I feel and care for these people, but honestly, they are doing the best they can with what they have. Not too far from our home is a garbage recycling facility. In it, you can see small children, women, young boys, and men all picking through garbage to salvage what they can to sell. Most modern countries are appalled at the site of this sort of thing. You can't just pull the plug on this, and make everything rosey. It will be a part of China for some time to come.

[IllinoisDave]

Maybe they'll do an article on how China's poor, do the best they can with what they have. Sounds like a good way to make a little money.

Watch the video Jesse. Because that's one of the points of the piece. Yeah, it's a good way to make a little money...while you're being directly poisoned with toxic chemicals.

 

I know Dave. Watching to poor of China can be pretty heart-wrenching. It is indeed a side of China that easily turns the hearts and stomachs of Westerners. I feel and care for these people, but honestly, they are doing the best they can with what they have. Not too far from our home is a garbage recycling facility. In it, you can see small children, women, young boys, and men all picking through garbage to salvage what they can to sell. Most modern countries are appalled at the site of this sort of thing. You can't just pull the plug on this, and make everything rosey. It will be a part of China for some time to come.

Geez Jesse. Is there any lethal working condition we can impose on these people that you won't defend using the "doing the best with what they have" argument? B) Paraphrasing what the guy in the piece said: "We're asking them to choose between poverty and poisoning. We shouldn't be asking them to make that choice." I realize that if China wants to import this toxic crap and let poor people kill themselves salvaging it, that's their business. But we shouldn't have any part in contributing to it IMHO.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

 

Geez Jesse. Is there any lethal working condition we can impose on these people that you won't defend using the "doing the best with what they have" argument? B) Paraphrasing what the guy in the piece said: "We're asking them to choose between poverty and poisoning. We shouldn't be asking them to make that choice." I realize that if China wants to import this toxic crap and let poor people kill themselves salvaging it, that's their business. But we shouldn't have any part in contributing to it IMHO.

 

It's just not a perfect world Dave. Sorry, but it's just not. In my view, what happens, is that people of Western and modern nations have become so insulated to the world, that they forget that there are poor living in the very cities where they enjoy heat, a new car, a good job, full stomachs, luxurious shopping malls, and all of the benefits that go with it. Then, they turn on their TV, and watch a program like 60-minutes, or some other expose on the poor in some country other than their own. What is the answer to make everyone comfortable, and eliminate dangerous working conditions, feed the hungry, heal the infirmed? All of the money in the world won't change it.

 

If tomorrow, Joe Good guy walks into town and eliminates all of the unsafe things that the poor of the world do to survive, then what? These people are starving. They are cold and hungry. They live in unsanitary, and repugnant conditions. It's not just here in China; pick whatever third world country you choose.

 

What seems to happen after a newspaper or television programs broadcasts these kind of shows, is that it brings out the "oh, how terrible" crowd. Truly, it is terrible that people have to live this way. Perhaps one day, the world will be strong enough and rich enough to eliminate the hurt the poor feel everyday. In our lifetime? Who knows?