Comments (19) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   jaxcat said, 1 day ago

   Just non-regulated capitalism during its sorry job.
2. 

   mikefive said, 1 day ago

   Why would a company want to sign a legally binding agreement with a company in Bangladesh when the government of Bangladesh doesn’t enforce its own building codes? Gap and Walmart have no way of knowing if a building is up to code on a completed building.
3. 

   Chillbilly said, 1 day ago

   If you’re buying something that seems impossibly cheap, ask why.

   
   Look at labels. Look at prices. Make an informed purchase. Be aware that GAP, Old Navy and Banana Republic are the same company.

   
   Be aware also that companies may manufacture things (like sneakers) for pennies and sell them for massive markups.

   
   Also ask yourself if purchasing YSL, Chanel, or other high fashion brands, or nearly any “official” pro sports apparel is any less ethical than purchasing the cheap knockoffs—you may be buying knockoffs from the same place that made the “originals.”
4. 

   jaxcat said, 1 day ago

   Why,….. well by the “power of the market,” as extolled by Friedman, Reagan’s guru.
5. 

   The Wolf In Your Midst said, 1 day ago

   @mikefive

   Yeah, it’s not as if they could, oh I dunno, hire an independent expert to examine the building or anything like that. That costs money and nibbles the bottom line!
   And it’s not like we’re going to start valuing human life more than money anytime soon, especially when that human life is off in some third-world country we don’t have to worry about invading for oil.
6. 

   rightisright said, 1 day ago

   generous liberals care about human life and have no trouble spending as much of YOUR money as possible.
7. 

   mikefive said, 1 day ago

   @The Wolf In Your Midst

   How is your independent expert going to make sure that unexposed concrete is at specification? How will he know that unexposed wiring is up to code? Are the unseen steel beams of a size and alloy to support the loads? Your independent expert could wander through forever and never see structural problems.
8. 

   I Play One On TV said, 1 day ago

   @mikefive

   That is true. However, although this could happen with any building inspector, we still choose to have an inspection when we intend to buy a house.

   Is the point you’re making that we shouldn’t bother because the inspector can’t guarantee 100% accuracy?

   What we know about the most recent incident is that there were three more stories than the building was designed to support. We also know that there were large cracks in the facade; evidently you didn’t need to be an expert to see this was an accident waiting to happen.

   And isn’t that WHY they purchase from places like Bangladesh? Because there are no intrusive job-killing regulations that cause prices to go up? This is the logical conclusion when one decides that worker safety is less important than keeping costs down.
9. 

   Chikuku said, 1 day ago

   I buy all my clothes from the Thrift Shop, so I think my hands are clean of that blood.
10. 

    Fourcrows said, 1 day ago

    @mikefive

    That is the job description of a building inspector. As a project manager, I have had occasions where I needed to work closely with them to make sure the structure we had to work on was completely safe and up to code. However, perhaps more to your point, the hard part may not be getting an accurate and honest inspection, but getting the parent company to do anything about it.
11. 

    Night-Gaunt49 said, 1 day ago

    @mikefive

    The Gap and Walmart were informed and to say two multi million dollar businesses “didn’t know” means they didn’t want to know.
    -
    Seems fair to me. More than fair, it should be good business practice.
12. 

    Night-Gaunt49 said, 1 day ago

    @rightisright

    Conservatives believe their bottom dollar is more important than human lives.
13. 

    Night-Gaunt49 said, 1 day ago

    @mikefive

    Seems to me their own experience would tell them what is safe. Even if it is on a higher level than Bangladesh’s.
14. 

    mikefive said, 1 day ago

    @I Play One On TV

    “What we know about the most recent incident is that there were three more stories than the building was designed to support…..”
    ♦
    That is the kind of thing that a building inspector could pick up on. (I hadn’t read that about this last collapse or about cracks in the facade). I’ve looked at the Bangladesh building codes, and if they had been followed those three stories would not have been built. Lack of enforcement? Corruption?
15. 

    Uncle Joe said, 1 day ago

    @I Play One On TV

    “And isn’t that WHY they purchase from places like Bangladesh? Because there are no intrusive job-killing regulations…”"
    
    Bingo! I doubt any structural engineer in the U.S. would have deemed Rana Plaza a safe workplace.
    
    Then there’s things like padlocked fire exits & failure to have any evacuation plan.
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