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Nike and SE Asia


The article below is a perfect example of some of the travesties that
occur in Indonesia, SE Asia, and all over the world because of US
involvement, and one of the reasons I think SE Asia is an important topic
area. 

Several people have implied that SE Asia will have lots of China links and
big nuke impacts.  I did not have big nuke war disads in mind when we
worked on the topic paper, and I don't think Richard did either (although
I might be wrong about that - he seems to like military debates pretty
well;).  
Most people don't know half of what goes on in SE Asian government and
culture, nor do they know of the human rights abuses and the exploitation
of people by the elites, governments, and foreigners that control these
countries.  We started writing the SE Asia topic paper because we felt it
was an area that people could learn about, that there were some real
harms, and that the US or the UN or something could act to solve those
harms.  A lot of the people in SE Asia and elsewhere in the world endure
greater civil rights abuses than most of the people in the US, including
myself, will _ever_ understand.  The blatant abuse of rights, exploitation
of both the people and the environment, and the lack of basic necessities
that we take for granted should make SE Asia at least as compelling as the
civil rights topic area.

While I agree that SE Asia has some nice links to China for disad ground
and some good counterplan ground, I hope that everyone will consider the
real everyday harms that occur in this region, even if you don't vote for
SE Asia as the topic area.  It's not just about nuke war impacts. 

Stacey Sowards
UT El Paso

Associated Press April 27, 1997 > > NIKE FACTORY IN INDONESIA IS
ORDERED SHUT 

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Officials ordered a factory that
makes Nike shoes shut down yesterday after workers burned cars and
ransacked its offices, saying the company was not paying them a
$2.50-a-day minimum wage.  Almost half the factory's 10,000 employees took
part in Friday's demonstration at Tangerang, an industrial town outside
Jakarta. It was the second protest in a week against the factory that
makes shoes under contract for Nike Inc.  Two women were hospitalized
after police broke up the melee, in which protesters burned two cars and
smashed windows, doors and furniture at the factory, according to the
Republika newspaper. Several police officers and soldiers suffered minor
injuries. No arrests were reported.  Nike and its competitor Reebok deny
accusations that they pay Indonesian workers too little and tolerate poor
working conditions at factories run by contractors.
------------------------------------------------------------------- > JUST
DO IT! BOYCOTT NIKE > http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5232 > > >
> > > > >
References:
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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