“I’d like to manufacture clothing in this country but the competition has set up a factory in Bangladesh where the pay is as low as $9.50 a week so what choice do I have? You do the numbers. And don’t lecture me about all the corruption. We’ll just work around it.”

Spoken like a true capitalist searching out ways to reduce overhead and increase profit as well as sales. And, if he or she can find a factory which pays $9 a week, stockholders will be even happier.

And then there is the tragic side. Last November a fire broke out in a Bangladesh clothing factory killing 112 people. When activists proposed the formation of a non-government controlled independent inspectorate at a cost of $500,000, Western companies said, “No, it’s too expensive.”

Three weeks ago a building riddled with large cracks collapsed killing at least 600 garment workers. As there are 4,000 such factories in Bangladesh alone, I can’t help but wonder when the next catastrophe will occur. It’s the mind-numbing work houses of Charles Dickens’ time coming to life. “Long hours, low pay and scary working conditions; it’s a lousy sweatshop!” yells Tiny Tim.

And we, the consumer, must share some of the blame since we shop around looking for the lowest prices without caring how they got there.

Over the decades morality, doing what is right, and the business community have often been at odds as CEOs ask staff attorneys and senior VPs, “Tell me what I can legally get away with and you, yes you, find me a marketing edge or else!”

Board members, stockholders and the public have to react when such “free enterprise” instructions lead to suffering even though it be men, women and children struggling in a faraway Asian country: out of sight, out of mind!