Sunday, December 9, 2012

Ad Infinitum

During a visit to the Internet, I came across a photo album depicting Chinese factory workers and the toys they make. Jakey Witz also made a post about some of the photos. As I was looking through the album, I found one picture that I thought encompassed the conditions in the factories quite well. 

The thing about this particular photo that struck me was the repetition. Almost every worked is dressed the same: they all wear the same hats and shirt. The only difference is the colors of two of the workers. The items they are working on are also mostly the same. I counted eight bins filled with identical toys. It seems like the entire factory looks like this. The line of tables goes far  into the distance, seemingly forever. Or at least to the back wall. On the left and right, you can see other long tables, with more workers in the same uniform, all probably working on similar toys. 
These workers probably sit there almost all day, performing the same action on the same toy for however long it is in production. And that length of production depends on us. As long as we keep buying the toys, they keep making them. This cycle will continue infinitely until we change something. How do you think we can bring that change? Do you have any other thoughts about these factories? Post your comments below. 

1 comment:

  1. Sean, A powerful photo. Looks like something out of Brave New World, doesn't it? You might now extend your description of the photo by relating the practices of the factory to a class text: Douglass, Omelas, "Shirt" etc.

    ReplyDelete