Dear CedWriter,
This week I must submit my discussion forum for the 14th module of my Introduction to Labor Studies course.
As always, I am first submitting my question to you.
Content used from:
1. Bowe, pp. 231-278.
- 2. VIDEO: Bill Moyer's PBS program on Abramoff and Delay, Parts III, IV, and V.
In order to access the book please use my login credentials (as did last week) from the kindle cloud reader and you will find the book there available.
The book:
Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy
John Bowe
Randome House, 2008, paperback)
ISBN-10: 9780812971842
Website for the kindle reader:
https://read.amazon.com
User: gcaprileh @ gmail . com
Password: centauro
Below you will find the instructions.
Please provide me with one and a half pages answering the questions to the module's discussion forum.
Very best.
Professor's Overview of Module 14
This reading finishes the book Nobodies. Author John Bowe finishes his examination of Saipan and the Northern Mariana Islands with an extended look at some aspects of the island realities; then in a concluding chapter he meditates on on what it all means and enters into an argument with his father-in-law who wholeheartedly supports the "free trade" regime and the modern global economy as it presently exists.
Prior to the final concluding chapter, the reading needs little commentary. Just be sure, as you are reading it, that you have registered a final understanding of the following topics:
(a) the state of the "locals", or local citizens (not a pretty picture despite their privileges compared to immigrants), and Bowe's understanding of what a legalized system of unequal treatment and massive inequality does even to the privileged group;
(b) the state of the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) -- the nepotism and mismanagement, etc.;
(c) the impact of the 2004 end of the quota system in garments -- disappearance of garment manufacturing in Saipan;
(d) more on "Team Delaybramoff" and its bribery and the like in maintaining the status quo;
(e) the nature of sexual relations on Saipan, and why Bowe believes that they are a reflection of, and basically created by, the degraded labor relations atmosphere on the island (see "the crummy bedrock fact that women needed citizenship and guys needed to get laid.");
(f) Bowe's ambivalence about the place despite his criticisms (the Ms magazine article, which he considered unfair is an example); and
(g) the conditions of, and the reasons for, the many Chinese prostitutes on the island.
In addition to the reading, you are to watch segments 3, 4, and 5 of the Bill Moyers documentary on Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay (and Saipan) that you viewed parts 1 and 2 of last week. Go to:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/capitol/watch.html Click on "Watch Capitol Crimes". At that point, you can either watch Segments 3, 4 and 5 individually, or you can use continuous watch and simply start at segment 3. (Again, remember that you can simply "google" the words "Bill Moyers" and "Capitol Crimes" to get you to the video if the link above doesn't work for you.)
This videos completes the picture of the corruption within the U.S. government (in addition to CNMI government corruption) that enabled the exploitative conditions on the island to continue so long.
The Conclusion to the book delivers the essence of Bowe's thinking on the cases he examines. The conclusion is largely an argument with his father-in-law, a committed libertarian who strongly supports the type of corporate-led globalization that is now occurring. Pay very close attention to the arguments on both sides: Charlie's optimism about economic growth and lack of concern about growing inequality, and Bowe's fears about domination by corporations and the wealthy and inability to condone the world's massive inequalities. I hope from this reading you get a good sense of the strengths of both arguments on each side. It is an important debate, because the future in many important respects depends on who is right.
Discussion Forum
1) Some have described Saipan as a "free market paradise." If "free market" really characterized Saipan, it paints a bad picture of what a deregulated, low-tax, small government place (so highly prized by the libertarian brand of conservatism) actually looks like.
Or is this unfair? What do you think? What does Saipan teaches us about government deregulation and low taxes and similar principles of the libertarian philosophy?
2) Despite his criticism of the place, Bowe also seems to think certain stereotypes about Saipan are unfair (e.g., the Ms magazine article). He finds nothing to contradict the claim that guest workers are at least economically "lucky to be there," and describes it as a "strange limbo between abuse, freedom, and desperation." In short, he is ambivalent, although mostly negative.
What's your take on this? Can Saipan be justified in any way? How should we react to it, and therefore what governmental policy toward it would you support? Discuss these questions.
3) Bowe's meditation on the state of sexual relations on Saipan focuses on men and their reaction to being "on the top of the sexual food chain." He relates the "sexual politics" of the place to the guest worker program and the behavior of employers. Do you find this thinking to be convincing? Do societies exhibit a relationship between general civil and labor rights, and gender/sexual equality or inequality? Is it all "part of a whole" as Bowe thinks, or not? Discuss.