Our Topsy Turvy Times
Once upon a time when the sun never set on the British Empire, the crown jewel in the imperial crown was a country called India. There were many agricultural products that the empire derived from India, including opium. When the power loom for weaving textiles made its appearance, the native Indians started up a lively business. To the British Empire this was a direct threat to their textile trade. So the Brits proceeded to destroy the power looms.
The native Indians (not to be confused with the American Indians) turned to knitting textiles by hand. The British imperialists were not deterred. They cut off the thumbs of the native Indians so they could not knit textiles.
Time marches on. British textile corporations are closing down their mills in the United Kingdom to get their work done in India.
What happened?
Four simultaneous technical revolutions made it possible for British textile manufacturers to get their work done in distant lands. These are revolutions in communications, transportation, materials handling and computerized management. In a matter of seconds, highly skilled technicians in the British home office could see exactly what was happening in their plants in India. They could instantaneously communicate corrections. In short, modern technologies had turned the world into a global village.
But, regrettably, the “village” has no government to check the outrages of the corporations, The answer lies in a sort of global government where the World Trade Organization is obliged to live by the labor standards code developed by the International Labor Organization.
If and when this ever happens perhaps some savvy historian will call it “The Tyler Plan.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
