Mitt Made His Money the "Old Fashioned Way"

On the Backs of the Chinese Working Like Slaves...

(I had included this Monday on my "Romney is Toast" post, but as Romney's comments about Chinese workers are only now starting to get some press, I felt that these words needed their own space.)

Here's the Clip About the Chinese Workers:

 

Let's juxtapose these two comments from the clips:  

• Romney claims that he and his wife gave all of their inheritance from their wealthy parents away.  So, therefore, they earned their money "the old fashioned way", meaning that they earned it.
• He talks about his visit to a manufacturing plant in China in which Bain was investing.  He mentions the deplorable working conditions of the thousands of young women who work there, working for a pittance, working long hours, living in dormitories ten or twelve to a room.  He doesn't mention that perhaps this is something that might be improved when Bain comes to town; he talks about how wonderful America is compared to the conditions of these young people in China.  (The link in this paragraph leads to an article in Mother Jones magazine about Bain's investments in China.  Written by David Corn, the same reporter who brought the hour long Romney video to light.)

Putting this together:

Mitt and his fellow partners at Bain made their money on the backs of workers who are underpaid, living poverty-level lives of despair, such as these young women in China.  Or on the backs of middle-class American workers whose companies Bain bankrupted, often laying off these long-time workers, many of whom later found themselves in deep financial distress.  

What are some of those "Old Fashioned" ways by which people used to "earn" their money?

Well, slave owners "EARNED" their money "the old fashioned way" back in the 18th and early 19th centuries, on the backs of slaves whose ancestors were brought over from Africa.  This was similar to the "old fashioned" way that industrialists and "captains of industry" "EARNED" their money when they put millions of immigrants and rural migrants to work for peanuts in dangerous, miserable factories, stock yards, and construction sites.  

Let's not forget why we don't have those conditions now in this country:

• Unions.
• Muckraking journalists.  
• Reformers and political activists.  
• Politicians who supported regulations and worker's health and safety laws.

And finally we can't forget: 

If  the Republican rich guys that Mitt was talking to had their way, the conditions for workers in this country would be just as bad as the conditions of those workers in China.  (In fact, whenever they can get away with it, they will put people to work in less-than-acceptable conditions right now in this country.)  

If you believe that Mitt et al would never do this, I have a bridge... price reduced; going cheap.

Don't forget what kind of conditions Mitt seems to tacitly accept for the Chinese:

• Chinese Suicide Sweatshop IPod Workers
• Chinese Workers Building the Oakland Bay Bridge