10 Cents Per Hour

So this is something that a lot of people don’t want to hear, but it needs to be said. The world is not fair. People that choose to believe otherwise are delusional. Everyone does their best to mask this, to hide it, to make it invisible. It really is impressive what mass will power can do. When a group of people choose to ignore the suffering of others, that suffering may as well not exist. This is especially prevalent at large celebrations, celebrations like Marta Gras.

The beads that they throw in this celebration that originated in the French Quarter of New Orleans are a prime example. After the party, the beads are trash. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of these plastic beads are thrown away. During the party, they are currency. Women compete to collect the most. Crowds meander in the streets throwing the beads to any woman willing to flash her boobs. No one questions where the beads come from because they really do not want to know.

The plastic beads are produced in a factory in China. This isn’t just any factory either. It is a compound. Ninety-five percent of the workers are young women between the ages of fourteen and twenty. They work anywhere from ten to fourteen hours a day. They are not allowed to leave except for Sundays. Their wage is ten cents an hour, IF they meet their impossibly high quota. If they are caught talking on the job, they lose on days worth of pay. They have no idea what the beads are for, only that they pull them from the machine, or string them onto frames to be spray painted, or that the ends of the strands are to be connected.

The people that flock to New Orleans to celebrate don’t want to know where the beads come from. To them, it is a non issue. It is invisible. When they are told the truth about the beads, they ignore it. They forget what they heard with a few shots of this or that alcohol. They don’t want to know about ten cents per hour. These party goers just want to have a good time. What else exists that people have made invisible? Food for thought…