Arkwright had a dream.
He used the waters from the Peak District near Derby in the UK to drive his machines.
Now the interesting thing was, the very design principles of his machines.
They were designed to be operated by children, since children could get into tighter spaces than adults so everything was made small and compact
Child labour was cheap and plentiful, so Arkwright moved the parents into houses round the mill and since children were cheap and replaceable he put them to work.
12-16 hours a day for six days a week, every week.
At seventeen they were broken and useless.
This business model was highly praised at the time.
The industrial revolution was born.
http://www.cartage.org.lb/...
http://www.great-britain.co.uk/...
Now these conditions are frequent in the 'developing' world today.
The ILO has estimated that some 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. Many of these children work long hours, often in dangerous conditions. Child labour is closely associated with poverty. Many poor families are unable to afford school fees or other school costs. The family may depend on the contribution that a working child makes to the household’s income, and place more importance on that than on education. And when a family has to make a choice between sending either a boy or girl to school, it is often the girl who loses out.
http://www.hrea.org/...
Child slavery is now becoming a focus of considerable international concern. Despite the
creation during the late 20 th century of a series of Conventions and Protocols, banning the use of children in trafficking and forced labour and despite more wide-ranging
international legislation defining the Rights of the Child, the extent and variety of forms of child slavery appears to be growing worldwide. The ILO – which marks the 10 th anniversary of its Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention in 2009 estimates that there may be 218 million children trapped in child labour worldwide of whom 126 million children were engaged in hazardous work. Many are in situations of modern slavery, working in clothing and shoe sweatshops, as child soldiers, in agriculture, brick-making, fishing, domestic service, or as child sex workers.
http://www.hull.ac.uk/...
It is where most of our cheap 'stuff' is made, it just goes to show how badly the trade treaties were written and overseen.
We cannot compete with this and would we want to in any case.
This is what unions are for, ending madness.