Introduction
The prime principle of globalization is featured by the interconnected holistic phenomenon. Due to globalization, the world has become a village on the periphery of politics, economical endeavors, and cultural interaction. However, exploitation and misuse of labor have remained at the same level as was noticed by Karl Marx. Thus, this reflective treatise attempts to explicitly review the “Hidden Face of Globalization” video in the viewpoints of Locke, Smith and Marx.
The hidden face of globalization
The “Hidden Face of Globalization” video highlights the suffering and exploitation of the poor factory workers for the successful American companies that make their products in Bangladesh. These companies such as Walmart and Disney engage in unethical labor relations practices such as employing underage workers, paying peanuts for workers, and neglecting their social welfare despite the huge profits they generate from these products.
Due to the unstructured international relationship between India and the US, the labor laws balance is threatened by sudden changes in the social systems of the Bangladesh society introduced by the foreign companies. This brings about the question of how the local people need to stay together and to attain their needs equitably, without involving in overindulgence, selfishness, and myopia. Many people endeavored to comprehend the revolutionary implications of neo-liberalism as it continued to evolve in an ordinary arena of business practices within their territorial borders.
Critical analysis: Perspectives of Marx, Smith and Locke
Karl Marx expressed these sentiments on alienation and pain in the lower class workers imprisonment by the companies who have the resources to manipulate and twist social, development, and welfare aspects of the Bangladesh workers’ society. In fact, it is apparent that these companies, drawn from the bourgeoisies and the ruling elites in the developed world of America, are thriving in discrimination and exploitation of labor supply to satisfy their selfishness.
Since they are the masters of labor production tools such as wages, this group, comprising of just a small percent of the society, comfortably sits at the apex of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid and cannot share the huge profits with the actual laborers who are subjected to harsh working conditions to make designer clothes for the American spoilt brats.
As was observed by Marx, the powerful Walmart and Disney companies influence labor laws processes in Bangladesh which are ‘only good’ when the same meet their opinionated threshold characterized by mere confirmation of their will; which may not necessarily be in line with the will of the underage employees subjected to inhuman work condition with very little and unreasonable pay.
Same as what Karl Marx witnessed in a textile industry in the then Germany, Walmart and Disney practices oppression of laborers by an agent of this group which is the corrupt labor officials of Bangladesh. Funnily, nobody among the government labor agencies and the unions came out strongly to defend their members. In fact, they talked as though every word from their mouths were rehearsed and choreographed by the exploiters themselves.
The exploitative companies in Bangladesh have formalized their definition partial policies in employee welfare and social interaction as was opined by Marx. The passionate appeals by the exploited proletariats who give ‘free labor’ are ignored by the bias labor policies and internalized corruption among the agents who should regulate these foreign companies.
In a perfectly skewed labor market, Smith argues that wages are supposed to be determined by the cost of production and total output. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The poorly paid employees of the foreign companies located in Bangladesh are merely spectators of exploitation as though their hands and minds are imprisoned in the dungeon of social classes. Despite the fact they are the majority and providers of labor resources, they are unable to unite and move from mere spectators into agents of quantifiable and desirable change they long to witness in their work environment.
Interestingly, Locke argues that the world has enough resources for everyone when selfishness is locked from imprisoning the human mind. Development and perception of an individual are greatly influenced by events in his or her external environment such as the type of income received against labor given and the social welfare fostered by interaction. At present, these are skewed towards fulfilling selfish ambitions of the selfish and myopic companies such as Disney and Walmart who accrue huge profits from poorly treated, underpaid and overworked underage workers in Bangladesh.
The neo-liberalism school of thought opines that absolute gain comes before relative gains in a relationship between two parties. This belief is assimilated in the game theory to explain and extend on the positive and negative influences that these relationships create at the global level.
Conclusion
Understanding the position of globalization in the human society requires critical analysis of cognitive values attached to practices, beliefs, and social dynamics which control and align a society towards astute of simultaneously interacting functions at macro and micro levels. In the case of Bangladesh, the third estate comprising of employees has endured inhuman work environment treatment, unreasonable wages, and abuse of age limit for legal labor provision.