The problem isn’t actually globalization, it’s the way the system has manipulated globalization. Behind closed doors, big business makes the conscious decision to put money before people. They will tell you that the “job opportunities" they create in developing countries like Bangladesh are “better than the alternative” options they have available. While offering work in developing countries CAN actually be a benefit to the community when done correctly, the current system is just taking advantage of their situation and exploiting them as modern slaves. 

HOW IT WORKS: Greedy corporations demand lower and lower labor costs in order to create higher and higher margins (aka more money in THEIR pocket). So, they take their manufacturing facilities to countries where labor laws are inadequate and unenforced. As a result, factories in these countries are forced to pay their workers close to nothing while demanding longer hours and faster production. That's why you can buy a trendy dress for $12. If it only costs $0.20 to make, companies can charge YOU only $12 and still make a 98% profit margin. Which also explains the growing wage gap between the working class and 1%... 

Forced labor is thought to generate around $150 billion a year in illegal profits while the humans actually doing the physical work make pennies an hour. It’s pretty much indentured servitude and, in some cases, actual modern slavery.
According to The True Cost, there are roughly 40 million garment workers worldwide, the majority of whom make less than $3/day. And, that's just the garment industry. Some mica (used for shimmery makeup and car parts) miners work from 5am-6pm, only make $3 per WEEK, and share one cup of rice per day between a family of 5.

Consequently, children are forced to work full-time to help put food on the table. The poverty cycle inevitably continues generation after generation.

Because their parents are not paid living wages, many children (approximately 152 million worldwide) are often forced to work full-time jobs (often living apart from their parents to do so). At least 88 million boys and 64 million girls forgo school to work in order to feed themselves. And, the types of jobs available are usually in hazardous, abusive, exploitive conditions.
As a result, kids are deprived of their childhood, education, basic human rights and bare necessities like health care to treat the injuries and illnesses caused by the harsh work conditions they spend 12+ hours a day in. Children are often buried alive while mining for mica so that you can get that perfect shimmery highlight.

Children and adults work excruciatingly long hours (usually 12+ hours/day) in unsanitary and unsafe conditions in order to meet the demands of greedy corporations. Some work in 100+ degree heat digging in holes/mines that are 15 meters deep (almost 50 feet!) that could collapse on them at any moment (and frequently do). Some work in furnace hot glass factories inhaling harmful, cancer-causing particles and chemicals, malnourished, with no access to health care/first aid. And, some work in neglected buildings without access to proper emergency equipment like fire extinguishers. 

For example - In May 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh catastrophically collapsed into rubble killing more than 1,100 workers and injuring at least 2,000 workers. The collapse could have easily been prevented with proper building maintenance and upkeep - expenses employers weren't willing to pay in an effort to keep margins high. 

In many cases, workers are forced into binding labor contracts that lock them into crippling debt and servitude. Labor brokers offer loans (often $7,000) to workers with the promise of helping them find employment. While they may find employment, they aren't paid anywhere close to fair/living wages and, therefore, it takes years to pay off the debt of the loan. And, with employment contracts usually only last 3 years, it's virtually impossible to escape this debt spiral. They end up spending their entire lives in an endless cycle of  working shitty, inhumane jobs trying to pay off a bottomless pit of human exploitation/trafficking.  

Racism, sexism, homophobia. Straight, white men have almost always been dealt a better hand than everyone else.

Learn the truth about the amount waste created by "stuff" in my Sustainable blog post here.