Very unfortunate, that incident in China. Many there have it better, many have it worse. We have practically zero control over how each factory is run by it's owner/manager. All we can do is pressure the people that work with these factories and hope for better.
Back in the 1800s things weren't any different in this nation. In the late 19teens, the wobblies, (IWW union) were gunned down in public with ne'er a charge filed. Their gripe? Better working conditions in the logging camps, coal mines, and garment factories. In my state, (WA), Armisice day 1919, the American Legion had a parade in the town where I lived. For the 2nd year in a row, they stopped in front of the wobbly union hall to "reform the ranks". In 1918, they stormed the union hall and demolished it. In 1919 when they attempted to do the same, the wobblies defended themselves. 4 Legion guys were killed. Several wobblies but 1 wobbly ran away. They chased him to a river north of town, and he couldn't get across. A legionare came into the river after him. He said, "don't come any closer, I'll shoot". The legionare kept approaching, yelling what they did to agitators. Sure enough the wobbly , Wesley Everest,
shot and killed Mr. McElfresh. They grabbed him, beat him so badly, that when they got him to jail downtown, he was unrecognizable. They were going to hang him on the spot, but it was decided there were too many women and children around. They threw him in jail. That night there was an unexplainable power outage at the jail. A mob showed up. The jailer threw them the keys and ran away. The mob took him from the jail, headed for the Chehalis river bridge, emasculating him on the way. They hung him not once, but 4 times from the bridge. He was shot full of bullets. The next morning the police chief ordered him cut down. His body was thrown into the jailhouse with the rest of the jailed wobblies and left lying there for 4 days.
15 wobblies were charged with murdering 4 American legion "patriots". The trial was moved to an adjacent county because of interest in a fair trial. When the jury went into deliberations, several hundred National Guardsmen pitched camp on the courthouse lawn. They were there to ensure the "correct" verdict was decided. 14 wobblies went to prison for 15 years.
Up north in Everett that year, some wobblies rode a ferry up from Seattle. As the ferry neared the shore, full of wobblies singing union songs, a couple dozen deputies opened fire. 23 wobblies were killed, 3 deputies, 2 from fellow deputies bullets. Those wobblies too, did long prison terms. My landlord saw the first incident as a boy. His house was repeatedly invaded and ransacked by the legion because his parents had German accents.
Just a reminder that "this great nation" has a few blemishes on it's history also. Hard-working people wanting humane working conditions, mowed down by "patriots" working for the interests of the lumber barons. Perhaps someday, the Chinese may undergo this type of bloody, violent revolution to get better working conditions. Then again, maybe not.
My $0.02
Rig
