Epstein on Bangladesh: blame the workers

[Enrique]

http://jacobinmag.com/2013/05/epstein-on-bangladesh-blame-the-workers/
Richard Epstein, the libertarian legal scholar and author of such classics as The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act and Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws, has helpfully chimed into the discussion about the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1100 people so far by zeroing in on who’s really to blame: the workers.

Specifically, those workers who have been pushing for better conditions at factories such as Rana Plaza:

Ironically, that labor agitation was itself one of the contributing causes to the collapse at Rana Plaza. Quite simply, the occurrence of such disruptions—and the threat of future ones—places enormous strains on the firms that have to deliver goods to foreign purchasers in order to remain in business. The threat of a repeat protest has led many firm bosses to step up the pace of work in the factories, which in turn means longer shifts, more workers, more extensive use of heavy equipment in order to make up for lost production, and stockpiling goods. That maneuver turned into a fatal insurance policy against future labor disruptions.

Writing as a member of the Hoover Institution’s “Property Rights, Freedom and Prosperity Task Force,” Epstein conjures up images of a kind of libertarian commando unit parachuting into disaster zones, ready to inform victims of their culpability in their own deaths at a moment’s notice. Thus Epstein adds to the literature of Western commentators warning Bangladeshi workers and their sympathizers not to take the wrong lesson from this (yes yes, very unfortunate event) by getting too uppity. Slate’s Matt Yglesias was one of the quickest to respond to the deadliest industrial disaster in recent history, taking it as an opportunity to wax about the virtues of lax safety standards for poor countries, while the Spectator’s Alex Massie reassured us that “industrial accidents – even tragedies, are…a price the Bangladeshis themselves are prepared to pay” to be included in the global supply chain.

Of course, in their rush to pontificate, Yglesias and Massie never bothered to check if Rana Plaza was legally abiding by Bangladesh’s building codes (it wasn’t) or if Bangladeshis really are content paying such a price (judging by the subsequent demonstrations, it seems not). Yglesias, to his credit, offered a feeble half-apology after, by his account, maturely getting over his initial reaction to the outrage his shoulder-shrugging provoked, which was mild annoyance.

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[Scuba]

1. And women cause their own rapes by dressing provocatively, and mini-marts ....

... encourage robberies by keeping cash on hand.

[byeya]

2. The Hoover Inst at Stanford: Why do these crackpots get so much ink and air time when

all they spew is retread garbage long disproved?

[ljm2002]

3. Richard Epstein is a disgusting POS...

...and I say that as someone who has never even heard of him until reading this post.

So workers who complain about their horrific working conditions are to blame for factory buildings that are poorly built? Really???

I can't even put into words what that does to me. It leaves me sputtering with outrage. And rage.

I hope someday Mr. Epstein is forced to enter a building that has visible cracks and is making loud cracking noises, because his boss says he must. I say this with the utmost sincerity.

[Ikonoklast]

4. Socrates should punch that asshole in the face for torturing logic so badly.

All the while screaming, "YOU ARE MAKING ME DO THIS TO YOU!!!".

Same logic.

[Blue_Tires]

5. eh...just another comfortable, elitist clown who's never worked a real day in his life...