Beads, Breasts, Business

The translation of the women who told them the salary is totally wrong and misleading. When the chinese woman asked "how much the bead sold for in US", the response was 100 US dollars to 200 US dollars, not 1 to 20 US dollars....

Unbelievable eye opening pod. I really appreciated the angle shown, and will now better watch where items are made before I choose to buy. It is sad to see this taking place in todays world. There are not enough laws in China to protect the workers and quality of the items produced for export. This is the worse kind of capitalism. I wish there was a place to research more of this. Buy American if at all possible.

I've shared this with friends. Once I saw this I knew that I never would wear Beads again!

Loved the look on the faces of each side when they realized what was happening to the other side. Well done.

this is FASCINATING! great work.

Ahhh, Mardi Gras. Americans at their very best.

I used to live in Louisiana....smiles of old memories quickly turning to harsh truth! The young girls face and words says it all at the end of the pod

We all need to see, so we can all change for the better....

Thank you for showing what the foreign factory worker does for us to have meaningless crap here in America. Never understood why women would expose themselves for crappy beads but this pod makes it seem even more sad and wasteful. But if the continued consumption of crap here in America puts food on the table in another country, is that really a bad thing? Or should the cost of disposable consumer goods be higher to increase the quality of life elsewhere? Americans make that decision each day with their wallets.

As usual we shocked to see just how much we keep our blinders on. This was a great pod. Hopefully it will help to open the eyes of many and influence them to become a less materialistic people.

Very good depiction of American culture. It's disgusting. The Chinese girls' reactions to the pictures is proof that America has some serious issues.

Fantastic pod. It made me cry.

That was a good pod. Its nice to see that kind of video through a lot of the pop stuff that has invaded current. Beautifully done, the three perspectives, really shows the ability to not communicate at all amongst different people that they have such a relationship. Its nice when a producer and buyer have a close relationship with one another. I like to receive something from someone who has made what I am receiving whether it be art, food or other goods.

Anyway great work I hope this gets aired for a while on TV.

cheers Talbott

is china and its people really that economically challenged to where the floor is basically falling from under their feet? although its very sad to see people struggle to survive, we have to remember that its really not that different in America.Work hard or struggle!

WOW!!! This really shows the ugly side of America.

The really sad part, this just does not happen with beads. Over the past several years of Corporate America outsourcing jobs and manufacturing this happens with everything we buy! The computer we're typing on, the TV we're watching, the clothes we buy, shoes on our feet, tools in our garage, and basically EVERYTHING the WAL-MARTS/Home Depots/TARGETS sell!!!!!!

Very Sad what Corporate America is doing. Profits at the expense of American Jobs and on the backs of repressed Asian citizens.

Is there a reason why the video doesn't work?

i love this pod! It is distrubing to see(even though i know this deep down) how unaware Americans are about what they consume and the consequences of their consumption are. On the otherhand this and all of the content from _current is great honest journalism. I am huge fan.

hmmm. This was really great. I thought that the shop owner and the party revelers shared a sort of muted uncomfortable vibe when justifying their actions. It was interesting that they all made jokes and laughed.

great idea.

thats terrible just terrible

OMG! What a poor showing of what Americans are like.. what did they do? Find Scum and film? Well maybe that's just the population there, and personally I find that to be embarrassing for those girls in china to think everyone in America is that way. Because there are some of those who are not.

Women can do stupid stuff... women who show their breasts to get beads.. are in my opinion giving into social pressure that you have to do more and more and I think it's very sad. Just go spend 5 bucks on beads and be happy if you want them that bad.

I am american, but was raised in Okinawa, Japan. Personally I would never flash my (nice, perfect & DDD) breasts to anyone. That is just stupid. Especially not for some freaking beads. I agree with the Chineese girl, I have no interest in these beads, You know.. before all you had to do is dress cool and you would get beads, it's just these past years that it got out of control.. and bad.

Please let them know that all people in america are not drunk and weird.

I ran a business in China and the pay they receive is normal for their education level. I also paid my people 500 RMB each month. However, I also gave them 2 free meals and a room to share with 8 other people to sleep in. Each employer must provide these things, and more, to their workers. I personally asked my employees if they were happy with their wages and they told me that if they did not work in my company, their situation would be much worse. The only things I didn't like about the person managing the factory was his comments about bathroom time and his workers being lazy. Many low skilled managers in China tend to think this way. I am guessing these people work about 12 hours each day 6 days a week. While this is normal in China, I personally worked my people 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I was always disturbed about the long hours in many factories.

The producer of this Pod tells us about the low wages the workers make. One worker stated that she made 500RMB (about US$66), but you must consider that a simple meal costs about 7RMB in China. So, the that 500RMB will buy much more for these people.

I'm not saying that these people have an easy life. I am saying that they could have it much worse than they have it now.

We as consumers could say that these working conditions are not fair and that we will refuse to buy products made in China. This is not likely since our society has proven again and again to only care about the costs of cheap goods and not the ethics behind the product. However consider this, if we did not buy these cheap goods, many people in China would simply go hungry and their families would starve. So, life is not perfect, but I have been told that life could be much worse.

I hope that one day these workers will have a better life.

What another great pod on Current TV. I just watched this clip a few minutes ago and I was blown away. It really made me think about how consumption driven the American economy and lifestyle are. My favorite part of the pod is the quote from the factory owner towards the end of the pod,

"You feel so great, Oh my god, people love my beads."

Don't we have better ways to make people feel wanted and special? Little plastic beads are just another THING people want that they really don't need.

One of the most eye opening things I have ever seen on Current. The juxtaposition of the folks in NO that saw the beads being made and the girls in the factory brings out a raw emotion/feeling of angst in me that is very powerful - thank you Current!

This pod hit deep. People know that many things are made in China and some even know the reality of the working conditions there, but I am sure few are enlightened by the humanistic qualities of the workers themselves and the way they perceive the etiquette of work. Seeing their oppressed demeanor and the way they have accepted the reality of their lives is depressing. I say this knowing that all things are relative, but I think I am justified in assuming that these people have seen happier and better days. All of this aside, the question becomes: What can I do? Not buying the beads may just put those people out of work. I really hate the situation they are in. They are trapped, their human rights are being poached at right in front of our faces and we can't do anything. GRR.

Simply put... that is some fucked up shit.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT THIS?

I just sen this and I can't belive what he said as to if they dont get what is suppose be be done.they will get punchish ,, can some please educated this man ... this really got me mad .. now lets not let this happen here .. and get paid what they paid over there in that counrty..

What a great pod. What I'm left with is the image of the drunk American tourist, blankly staring into the camera.
Yet another wake-up call.

I always love watching the show 'How It's Made'. They always film in American factories and even high-quantity products are made with very high quality (expensive, but valued by high-end buyers) and lots of human human input .... And then I picture how those same products are made for for the shelves of big-box retailers in China and what the process and conditions would look like.

Like they say, if want a DVD player for $19.99 .. someone, somewhere needs to be making a profit and it ain't here in the good'ol U.S. of A.

mind melt? i like that term. this pod rocks (by the way)

Bring a Flip!

:J)

We're screening this pod at our event in New Orleans this Friday. I wonder what people will think of it...

This pod is a mind melt.

that's incredible! I cross the 3rd street every day and on game days, i pass the street vendors selling beads (for $1 or 3 dollars), and every single time i think about people in china making these beads, working way too long, and probably not making much per day then these beads cost over here. useless pieces of plastic that sure, are helping 'stimulate a global economy' ...but at what cost to humanity?

And then this pod shows up. awesome.