Globalization has had a huge effect on our everyday lives. From the food we eat to, the clothes we wear, the way we experience weather, which produces goods for us, and so on. In regard to sport, the way corporate capitalism has manifest itself in our contemporary globalized society has allowed for us to participate in our favorite sports, watch sporting events, and players, as well as wear, and use sporting goods without ever questioning where these things and people come from. Sports can replace political debate within politics, thereby contributing to a dangerous politics of us and them � (Billing 1995).
Lawrence Grossberg has stated are incapable of hating the rich�. Not the rich, as in athletes, but the rich as in the people who have the money to pay athletes, push through legislation to make it legal to abuse children the world over, create situations in the Dominican Republic where young boys are taking horse steroids in order to become better baseball players, and we roll on playing in our recreation leagues, wearing our $200 jerseys, or watching games at billion dollar stadiums without ever uttering a word of disgust. children offer a crucial rationale for engaging in a critical discussion about the long-term consequences of current policies� (Giroux 2004). This can be seen in the young boys from the Dominican who dream of playing professional ball one day in America.
The smiling young boys taking a break from their baseball game live at the bottom of the hillside slum community called La Zurza in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Like most Dominican boys, they harbor dreams of playing professional baseball and, if they are good enough and work hard enough, reaching the Major Leagues in the United States. Like most boys in La Zurza, their dreams will never be realized. But the incredible poverty and the politics of patronage in the Caribbean island nation that produce many professional baseball players also serve as roadblocks to developing a successful Little League experience (Mosher 2001).
These boys live to hopefully play ball one day in America. Not only does their future affect their lives but it affects the future of their families as well. This can lead to the exploitation of the children. Also little to no progressive action has been taken. The really question we have to be looking at is what masks what is really tasking place in the United States.

When it comes to sports in a globalized sense, some very important things get over looked in the big picture. We sometimes think of sports figures as untouchables as far as the law is concerned. They are not subject to the same rules regarding the law as normal citizens are, but can still find themselves in trouble as we have seen is the case with Micheal Vick. The ones who really get away with anything without any subjectification are the people signing Vicks checks and the companies producing the equipment that Vick and most of the country wears. It is easy to point fingers at Vick for the dog fighting ring, but for some reason we find it hard to hold companies such as Nike or Adidas to the same justifications. Are we as a nation in-capable of seeing the injustices of the rich? By wearing Nike shoes and using Nike basketballs and such we are basically saying that it is ok to work those young kids in countries like Indonisia to the bone for almost no money. Nike's marketing directors do such a good job commodifying there products that no one cares where they came from or who made them, we just know we want them. There is such a demand for these products that the child labor is continuing without hinder. It is the cheapest labor Nike can get for such mass production. With globalization becomeing easier because of things like NAFTA and this increasing commodification, we may never see the end of these harmful practices.
The same kind of things are seen when looking at the way athletes are taken from the Dominican Republic to play baseball in the United States. The kids have nothing in their country so they will play in th U.S. for a lot less money than someone who grew up here. With the huge demand to win a World Series, the team just wants to get the cheapest talent on the field to win and still fill the stands. Stephen Mosher's says in his article that teams such like the Yankees and the Reds have youth baseball facilities set up in the Dominican. Moser makes it sound like the Reds and the Yankees have these facilities to give the kids a great opportunity. As great as the opportunity is for the kids who have nothing to begin with, the teams see it as a way to benefit in the over commodified world of Major League Baseball.

I completely agree with francesca terrano because we quickly point fingers and do not consider other things in our surroundings.

The great values, beliefs, and social skills that sports can instill in youth are a very important part of a child s moral and character development. As they acquire these morals and skills and develop them with age, they begin to understand them and incorporate them into their lives. Whether it be through sport or through real life, such as a hobby, college, a job, or a family, those values and skills become important to that person and help them to shape themselevs into who they are. It is of no doubt that the morals, beliefs, and social skills one can learn as a child through sports is a good thing and can be used to achieve success. One of the great things that makes America what it is that the American spirit has been able to capture these beliefs and used them to contruct the American dream one that promotes hard work and a strong moral base. IF one were to build up a company, and have it become so successful that it becomes a corporation, more power to them. However, it is when these moral beliefs that have built the company turn into greed and corruption and they use the people of third world countries to produce their product so they may make an incredible profit off of material-hungry consumers. With no regard to how the sweat shop workers live or how their health is, corporate owners are more concerned with how the product is made and how fast it is made, not who makes it.
The greatest example is probably Nike. Nike does not own any of the factories where its products are produced, but instead contracts the work to various factory owners. However, Nike still dictates the terms to the contractor: the design, the materials, and the price it will pay (Global Exchange). Nike essentailly does own the factories, they just manage to escape initial responsibility of cheap labor and poor working conditions for its laborers. According to Global Exchange, a membership-based international human rights organization, an Indonesian wage study shows that 332,000 rupiah/month ($37.50US) is needed to cover the basic needs of one person. A living wage, which is a wage that helps cover the needs of a family, not just one worker, would be twice this figure, or 664,000 rupiah/month ($75US) (Global Exchange). However, in 1999 Nike s new wage was a minimum cash wage of 265,000 ($30US) and a bonus package that adds up to 332,000 ($37.50US) (Global Exchange). So Nike is having all this labor done for them, just not giving the workers the wages they need to barely stay alive.
In Stephen Mosher s article he writes about how poor children in the Dominican Republic are being given opportunities to attend school and have the opportunity to be scouted for pro baseball by Major League Baseball teams. After all, the Dominican Republic produces 25% of pro baseball players in the United States (Mosher). However, the motive for why these teams are there is questionable. Are these teams, such as the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds really giving these children an opportunity, or simply trying to find talent to put fans in their stands? Are they really doing them a favor, or simply making an investment for the future of their team? I believe if they were truly trying to help these countries and its children, they could set up a separate charity to help out all those in need.

Continuing globalization has become a huge trend in society today, especially in sports. Sports, it is often said, is a mirror of society� (Breton, 2000, p.3). Therefore, it should be no surprise that not only the sports are being taken globally, but also the means in which our sporting goods are being produced are as well.
The most obvious of these corporations would be Nike, even though many people do not know the goings-on of one of the world's leading suppliers of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment.
In terms of production, Nike s corporation origins can be traced back to 1963, when founder Philip Knight struck a deal with a Japanese firm, Onitsuka Company, Ltd., to be the West Coast distributor for Tiger track shoes, a knock-off of the German-made Adidas brand that then dominated the market. Blue Ribbon Sports, as the company was among the first to take advantage of Asian produced, inexpensive imitations of brandname footwear. (Stabile, 2000, p.197)

So, even dating back to 1963, globalization with Nike was imminent. As time has gone by, Nike has continued to take advantage of cheap labor in the Asian countries. Presently, more than a third of Nike products are produced in Indonesia, but with an increase in minimum wage to $2.20 a day in that country, Nike moved into Vietnam, where the daily wage is a meager $1.50� (Stabile, 2000, p.197).
What startles me about these issues is the fact that Nike has not really heard much grief about it. But when it comes to Vick and dog fighting or steroid use among athletes then these are huge issues. It does not occur to Americans that the shoes the athletes put on their feet or that everyday people put on their feet are being produced in such a way that is against what America stands for as a nation. Even though consumers were dismayed to that their $130 Air Jordans (produced for $30 in Indonesia) had been poorly paid Indonesian workers,� this did not stop Americans from consuming them (Stabile, 2000, p.198).
It would seem to me that Americans only take notice to and reprimand things that occur in the United States. If it does not happen here then it is not our problem, even if it is our companies that are hurting other nations. Nike s commercial image absolutely depends on maintaining the invisibility of real contradictions for the consumerist caste� (Stabile, 2000, p.199). Americans just stick to the motto that if we see it then it did not happen.

This is an interesting topic, we dont take time normally out of our lives to think about how something so fun, that brings us all together, can really be so harmful to someone else. Sports conglomerates and sponcers outsource alot of their jobs to foreign contries to have products made at the cheapest cost possible for them. A huge company who we all know well, and many of us probably own alot of merchandise from is Nike. Nike is a huge company, with a branch called the Women of Nike, but what we see is moms, and women who are working out having fun, doing things to improve their bodies, what we dont see, are the little girls in sweat shops that start working probably around 4 or 5 years old making Nike products, and who by the age of 10 have athritis so bad that would be no good for any job ever again. Thats what we need to look at. To switch to a slightly different topic, the Michael Vick case, how much money do you think he's bringing in for the Atlanta Falcons Organization during all this court case, dog fighting expedition. People are seeing a star get locked up, and I'm almost positive the Vick jerseys are flying off the shelves cause of all the publicity, bad publicity or good publicity all works in the favor of the organization. But does anyone take the time to feel sorry for the animals he blatently mistreated, the dogs he savagely beat, tormented and tortured, NO. All the media cares about is trying to make us feel bad for a criminal. Michael Vick is going to jail for a 23 month sentence, and I dont know about other peoples thoughts about it by I say karma better come back and get him. Michael Vick I hope you dont drop the soap buddy, cause you got yours coming.

Corporate capitalism seems to affect the majority of our everyday activities, from watching TV, to purchasing almost any product or playing sports. There is too much profit driven motives by corporations to manufacture whatever it is they are providing, in a cheap, cost effective way. Offering fair wages to all of their workers would severely cut into the profits. No one doubts Nike s importance and its vital link with modern day sports. But after a more critical look at the corporation, it is apparent that Nike may be doing as much harm as good.
Nike out sources most its labor to third world countries, where there aren t any labor protection laws, and children often take the bulk of abuse. It has been reported that employee s of various Nike factories make an astonishing twenty cents per hour, a measly $1.60 a day. If that is not punishment enough, workers are only allowed to go to the bathroom once in an eight hour shift and can not drink water more than twice. Many workers in these factories have also claimed to have been sexually abused, been victims of corporal punishment, and been forced to work overtime. (Saigon, 2007) One of Nike s newest marketing campaigns to make green� shoes, (environmentally friendly) They will be made out of hemp and recycled rubber. When people buy these shoes surely they will feel good that they are doing the right thing, but the shoes are still made by children for pennies a day. While it is no secret that Nike has immoral labor issues, why do Americans who are so quick to jump on the next media scapegoat, rather than be proactive and not buy Nike? The answer is in part the stronghold that corporations have over the American sporting culture. When a person like Michael Vick is caught, people seem to be so quick to jump on the bandwagon against him. (I do not condone animal cruelty in any of its forms) When a celebrity gets in trouble, people feel they get their daily dose of political activism to be against something that is wrong. They often turn a shoulder to the bigger problems.
Hacienda Loc is a low income area of the Philippines where the main source of income is farming. Because of near by tourist sites, there have been many corporate investors that put up golf courses. The courses were built on the lands that the indigenous people have lived and worked on for many generations. The golf course increased the pricing of the housing, making it hard for the native people to afford a decent home. The corporation did say that the golf course would offer new jobs for caddies, but realistically how many jobs could it really produce? Certainly not enough to maintain the entire Hacienda Loc community.

It is a shame to see such large corporations which we have relied on since we were kids, being the cause of such conditions and situations, and knowing that we have aided in their fortunes.

Sports and players have grown in the public eye thanks to sponsors. These sponsors recognize players and teams for their outstanding achievements, skills and/or success. The players are used for advertising merchandise such as sport drinks, clothing, sport apparel, and shoes. Growing up, we looked up to these athletes and teams and were drawn into the advertising scheme. We begged for Nike, Adidas, and other top of the line sporting attire. What we did not know and much of society still lacks in knowledge is the means in which most of our sporting gear is produced.
From all the previous responses written, it is evident that I share an affinity for soccer. For this reason, I chose to research Adidas and its means of producing its many products. Throughout the many years I played soccer, I always bought Adidas cleats, shinguards, and socks. Later, in my soccer career I bought warm-ups and other clothing apparel made by Adidas. It was very discouraging to find the results I did, when researching this sporting goods corporation. All society sees and hears about are the advertising commercials, banners, and wonderful products Adidas offers. However, underlying this sporting good corporation is a corrupt means of producing products. One of the major countries where Adidas apparel is produced is in Indonesia. Here, workers are subjected to physical abuse, forced overtime, poor conditions, and wages amounting to less than a dollar a day. Unfortunately, the majority of the workers at these factories in Indonesia are women and children (Osborn, 2000). Similarly, many other shoe suppliers have the same working conditions in their factories, such as Nike, Reebok, Asics, and New Balance. This may be a major surprise to many to see Nike or these other names listed. But this is a topic that remains hidden from the public in an effort to continue their growing, money-driven, sporting corporations. Society has let these corporations turn into globalized markets and factory conditions such as these are the result.
Along the sporting lines and unfair treatment of workers to produce these products is another situation that remains quiet and overlooked. This is unfair treatment of our athletes participating in professional sports. For the mere fact that someone is of another color or nationality, we seem to find it fair to pay them less for their efforts. A large sum of our MLB players comes from the Dominican Republic. Their only means of living are to play baseball and succeed by playing in the United States for a professional team or failing and working in sugar factories, getting paid below minimum wage. BretÏ?n describes the situation best when he states:
The justification for this "boatload mentality" used by baseball people is this: Tejada and other budding Latino players are fortunate that MLB affords them an opportunity to escape the third world poverty they grew up in. Baseball gives them a way out, a chance to get paid, eat regularly, sleep in clean beds, and, for the very best, a crack at fame and fortune (BretÏ?n, 2000, p.1)
As a society, we have to look beneath what is portrayed and hidden. Only we can make a difference by speaking out against things of this nature. We have allowed sporting corporations and sporting good producers to become immensely large that they have the ability to silence us. Through this research, I have changed my views of such companies like Nike and Adidas. To read the conditions in which my sporting gear is produced, changes my perspective and allowed me to become aware of the ignorance that I and society possess on this issue.

Like I stated earlier, many people always place blame on others. I am not saying its all the consumers fault, or Nikes, Its a mixture of everything. The media, the public, education, politics; the combination of ingrediants make society the way it is but change depends on solely on society.

We as a society are quick to blame others when issues like dog fighting are so blatantly put in front of us. Unless an issue is put right in front of our noses, we tend to not think too much about where our clothing is made and in what conditions the workers are in. Many might not admit it, but we are a pretty selfish community. We want to look good and are pretty self involved. I ll admit I am and maybe that s why I don t think past the appearance of my shoes. Nike makes well over a billion dollars in net income yet they are having children work in factories to produce these goods for less than minimum wage. We are all aware of the conditions these children endure. Children in Dominican Republic main goal in life is to get good enough in baseball to travel to United States away from their slums to play. The fact that these children are making our goods to live and other children are doing anything they can to get to America is devastating.

� Their dreams of playing professional baseball are not about glory or fame or freshly mown fields or cheering crowds. Their dreams focus on being signed to a baseball academy contract and making enough money with their bonus to pay the rent on their family's shack or eating four nutritious meals a day. Their dreams are born out of poverty, illiteracy, malnourishment and desperation. (Mosher, 2001).
These children are not playing for fun, there playing to live and this is happening all over. So while we are sitting back enjoying our new Nike shoes, these children are fighting to live. We has a society are well aware of the conditions other countries are in and the circumstances in which these children are working to give us their superficial things. Although society is aware of the poor conditions and the little than minimum wage controversy, people are blinded by the all the celebrity endorsements. We look up to athletes so much that they become celebrities. When they do something wrong like participate in dog fighting or use steroids, our society can t stop talking and criticizing them. If a celebrity athlete was involved in hiring young children to produce goods at less than minimum wage, our society would be in an outrage. We no longer support that person and we turn our backs on them, just like we did to Vick. When we hear of controversy of Nike involved in these scandals, why don t we turn our back to them? Why don t we stop supporting them and stop purchasing their goods? This situation just shows how far companies will go to make a few extra dollars and how far society goes to make a statement in their appearance. We don t pay attention to these problems these children are going through because it isn t in our sight. We don t see it, so we don t think about it. Nike sponsors many events for specifically promotion and we absorb what we see. What we don t see is often ignored and that s just the way our society is. It s almost pathetic that a company like Nike goes so far to make profit yet is so unaware of problems people in other parts of the world are going through.
Unfortunately, I don t think things will change. Nike will continue to make good products. Excuse me, children will continue to make products for Nike, and we as consumers will continue to buy. Optimistically speaking, hopefully enough voice will eventually render a change in companies such as Nike.

Their dreams of playing professional baseball are not about glory or fame or freshly mown fields or cheering crowds. Their dreams focus on being signed to a baseball academy contract and making enough money with their bonus to pay the rent on their family's shack or eating four nutritious meals a day. Their dreams are born out of poverty, illiteracy, malnourishment and desperation.

Over this semester, I have begun to view our society in a much more critical way. Before now, I always just took my surroundings for granted, assuming that the American Way� was a flawless set of ideals that stood for justice and integrity. I always saw the United States as the epitome of how the world should be run and operated. Being a Criminal Justice major, I was especially inclined to be supportive of this country s operations. Since our entire country was founded on the principles of equality, opportunity, and the freedom from oppression, I never thought to doubt the society that I have been apart of for so many years.
My views now, however, have changed dramatically. The United States is not the morally untarnished placed that I had come to believe it was since my childhood. North America is a place driven by greed, gluttony, and corruption. Wealth and power are seen as defining successful characteristics in this country, replacing those of intelligence, morality, and generosity. Those who perform genuinely good deeds find themselves unrecognized while drug dealers and thieving businessmen are often congratulated on their popularity and social standing. The commercialization of every aspect of life has turned many Americans into mindless shopping machines that contribute little to the welfare of society.
I do not intend to present myself as anything other than a Patriot, however. While I have developed very strong feelings about how this country operates, it is still one of the most advanced societies in the world. Even though human rights issues, such as the death penalty and homosexual marriages, are still debated in our government, the United States has still managed to become a very progressive country. It does, however, still have much work to do in order to become a much more civilized and utopian culture.
Corporate exploitation is one of the most horrific things that the United States allows. While our dozens of child labor and discrimination laws do a great deal to keep organizations from taking advantage of workers in this country, they do little to prevent the exploitation of foreign workers. Dozens of U.S. based manufacturers rely on outsourced labor in order to mass-produce products at an incredibly low cost. Additionally, many of these underpaid employees are young children which would be much too young to be allowed to work within our own country.
Of all of the companies guilty of this, Wal-Mart is arguably the most notorious. For years, they have used outsourced labor to keep the costs of their products low. Despite a heavy outcry from activist groups and media outlets, people continue to support them in their continuing exploitation of the foreign work force by purchasing products carried in their stores. It is this lack of moral standard that allows American companies to continue running their businesses without regard for human rights. Even when they are accused of being an evil corporation, Wal-Mart comes up with deceptive schemes that mask their corruption. According to the Organic Consumers Association, Wal-Mart s Only in America� policy placed on some of their goods was simply a way to temporarily distract its customers while continuing to severely underpay its foreign labor (Krebs, 2005).

I agree with G.Shaw as he states that all corporations are about making money and we would be better off without. It may be a tough statement since our entire world is based off this, but there has to be a way to make money witout harming people and their lives.

It is so easy to see how Globalization has made such an impact on every aspect of our lives; we canot escape its never-ending effects. For the majority of the world population, thinking about where our everyday items are made as well as the conditions are not at the top of our list. Do we ever think about the abused wannabe baseball players in the Dominican, or the farmers in the fabulous climates of the world that are being taken over by golf courses and resorts? This class has taught me so many things that I need to be aware of and things that I can help others see.
The working conditions of corporate companies have come to be a little bot more well known across the world in the past few years. The child labor and low wages should be nauseating to every one of us, as we make a thousand times more than they ever will. Queen reported that she usually works 56 hours a week sewing 1,600 garments a day. Queen and her co-workers are barely paid above minimum wage, yet their employer has cut their wages twice and increased their workload� (Behind the Label, 2005). Although I have bought many pairs of Nike shoes, and other apparel that is, unbenounced to me, made in sweat shops across the globe, it is the commercialism that has brainwashed into not ever thinking about the conditions. When I think of a brand like Nike, the first thing that comes to mind is not a nine year old girl that works more hours a day then i do in four, but, the commercials and the newest spokesperson that makes me want to get te newest style.
Aside from sweat shops, the conditions of places like the human factories in the Domican Republic shipping out baseball players is close to the same. These kids start at the youngest age possible with a baseball bat and glove shoved in their hands to teach them the American sport. The famalies of these boys know that this is the only way they will ever make any money or possibly get out of the poor country. Oppressive relationship has lead most young Dominican boys to live a life where success in baseball becomes the only ticket out of working in predominantly U.S.-owned sugar factories for little to no pay� (White). The saddest part about the situation in the Dominican is no matter how hard these boys work to make it out and do something heroic for their famalies, it will take considerably longer for those players to make the same as American ones. The fact that they have no other objectives, no other options, makes the Major League Baseball program able to make the signing bonus lower, as well as yearly salary. Knowing he had no alternatives, the Athletics acquired Tejada s considerable talent for a mere $2,000. By comparison, Tejada s white American teammate, Ben Grieve, received a $1.2 million signing bonus. Similarly, the Texas Rangers acquired Sammy Sosa s services in 1986 for $3,500 the exact amount the Brooklyn Dodgers paid to sign Jackie Robinson in 1946.� (Breton, 2000)
Just like the baseball players of the Dominican, the farmers of Hacienda Looc in the Phillipines are forced into living with the unethical practices of Americans. These people are being fored off the lands they and their ancestors have lived and worked on for hundreds of years just so someone can make money building a golf resort. The mid-1990s large development corporations focused on the unspoiled beaches and coves of Looc as an ideal location for ecotourism resorts and luxury subdivisions. Farmers in Looc were told that they no longer owned the land; that their hillsides were to be bulldozed to create four golf courses, designed, according to the developers, by Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus (Hall, 2000).� These farmers and famalies know nothing other than to be able to farm their land and fish. Although the resorts have promised them jobs, the corporations are unable to be trusted as they have murdered for their cause to get just the land. To this group of people, the land is all they have, land to us is life itself. If you take our land, you have killed us,� (Hall, 2000). The types of jobs offered to the people of Hacienda Looc are few and far between, but consist of the lowest rank and somehow these coprorations are to be trusted. The farmers cooperation was sought with promises of employment as golf caddies and groundskeepers. It all seemed perfectly sensible to those whose fortunes were about to be made by the development,� (Hall, 2000).
The globalization of sport has made many impacts across the world, and as we can see Americans have alot to do with it. Although not many of us see these things as negative, it is just because we are ignorant (like most Americans) to what happends other places than right here in the good old USA.

Corporate sponsors of sports make lots of profit. The McDonald s corporation sponsors the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, NHL, and youth soccer and hockey, and makes millions of dollars each year of these investments. This same company that promotes sports has some of the unhealthiest products in the fast food market, and the majority of their consumers never actually play sports. The workers within this company make minimum wage in the United States and even less in other countries. This same company also has children working to make the happy meal toys� they will never get to own for less than one dollar an hour. Sports are meant to be fun and enjoyed by children, not a source of insufficient income.
Children are also being exploited in the Dominican Republic where there are corporately owned baseball camps that offer an opportunity for a more financial beneficial future and make boys lie about their age. The young players themselves are desperate enough to risk everything to have a chance to move to the U.S., knowing it is their family s only chance for financial security (Mosher, 2001). The boys want to come to America and become famous baseball players like Pedro Martinez and make as much money as he does. The most notable case is that of Danny Almonte, an all-star pitcher in the Little League World Series in 2001. Almonte s star status changed, however, when Sports Illustrated sent reporters Ian Thomsen and Luis Fernando Llosa to further investigate rumors that he was over-age in respect to LLWS rules . Eventually they found evidence that he had two sets of birth documents, one that stated he was 14 and a newer one that had been falsified in order to render him eligible to participate in the LLWS (White, 4). While globalization benefits sports as far as development of foreign markets, it is negative as far as its effects on child labor and importation of young foreign athletes.

Corporate sport has created so much power in todays society. Many players try to portray a good image so they get the good endorsment deals. The endorsments can be worth millions in extra revenue for the player. Each time a deal is made the numbers are always talked about publically. Everyone knows how much Lebron and Tiger get from Nike. Corporate sport reminds you of the have s and the have not s. Chris Rock ask s what is the difference bettween rich and wealthy ? Shaq is rich the white guy that signs his check is wealthy.� Which I feel is correct. Shaq maybe so rich and powerful but, corporate sport owns him. Corporate sport pays his salary. Corporate sport also controls the media and many Americans free time. It has created a craze in the Dominican republic. The article Injecting hope and risk talk about how teenagers shoot veterinary steroids to become stronger baseball players. Dominican Republic, where a major league contract holds the prospect of almost unimaginable riches for a teenaged boy in a small Caribbean nation with a monthly per-capita income of $503(Washington post 2003 June 23) Corporate sports has created this frenzy for people to use steroids that can harm peoples lives for a small chance at millions of dollars.

I do question our society for being more critical of dog fighting than we are of child slave work in other countries but I can in some ways see why we do this. I think that we are more aware of dog fighting and the Vick case and it is less overwhelming to us to fix the problem. When we think of children working as slaves it is so overwhelming because we feel like we are helpless in the situation, when we look at Michael Vick and the dog fighting it seems easy to just throw him in jail and punish him and we think other people will learn from his mistakes.

When I was researching Nike and its working conditions almost everything I found stated how bad the conditions were for both women and children. One thing I read said Nike spokesperson Tiger Woods gets paid an estimated $55,000 a day for the endorsement and it would take an average of 38 years for a factory worker for Nike to ever even think of making that much money. The conditions these people work under are so awful but still Nike continues to produce and we continue to buy there products. Some are only allowed two bathroom breaks a day causing kidney infections. The safety of the workers is so bad that often the workers are hurt, some even dead. Not only are the conditions they work under so unimaginable but also are there living conditions which are rat infested and beyond grotesque.

I think if we want people to take this seriously and stop supporting Nike and other companies until they make a change we need to make people more aware of these conditions.

I can relate to L. Palmer and J. Ondranko becuase like them, I also am an athlete at Towson and never think about the work to took to get the items we get. We only think about how nice we look in them rather than the fact that they were made from cheap labor factories.

The question of why we would rather discuss dog fighting over what corporate company s flaws boggles my mine considering the fact that humans are being harmed by companies. I am not trying to diminish the value of a dog, I am just simply pointing out how we would rather discuss animals over humans. I am using the classic example of the corporate company Nike and how Chinese workers are being drilled at the show factory to produce sneakers for American runners. I myself have bought many pairs of Nike sneakers without even thinking about how they were made. As a business, one can not really blame Nike because they are maximizing their profit by having shoes made for cheap prices. However, does that justify the fact that they are hiring employees to work long hours for little to no pay? Working conditions for employees working for Nike has turned into boot camp. Big corporations like Nike have been taking advantage of other countries and the cheap labor that is produced there. The purchase of products like Nike s does promote unlawful labor. However people will continue to do it for the simple reason that it is not discussed much and swept under the carpet, where as Michael Vick s case became to public because society loves to point out when a celebrity is at fault. We tend to not think about the cost it takes to be wear clothing and shoes produced by cheap labor markets. We tend to only care about the fact that we purchased the item for a cheap price.

I agree with J Ondrako. Whenever we get issued free equipment it's always so exciting. Its hard to comprehend that most, if not all of our clothing is coming from cheap labor. Not just the clothing, but our equipment like cleats, soccer balls, shin gaurds etc. We always just see the glamourous side of things and it shouldnt be continously overlooked.

Everyday I put on name brand clothing such as Adidas or Nike and I never second guess the factories or poor conditions people around the world have to work in daily. It definitely takes a more critical perception to notice everyday issues that voluntarily overlook. Most all of the sports producers like Nike for example cut corners so small children can sew soccer balls and sneakers together for mere pennies. However these issues aren t just happening overseas they are also happening here in America. In Columbus, Mississippi, these workers are working for American Power Source, an apparel manufacturer that receives millions of dollars in contracts to make military uniforms for the U.S. government and its armed forces (Behind the Label, 2005). The government has paid this factory 32 million dollars for the production of military uniforms, combat gear, cold weather coats etc. Just like the stories you might hear of sweatshops in Mexico or China these workers are operating the same labor hours and shifts. Queen reported that she usually works 56 hours a week sewing 1,600 garments a day. Queen and her co-workers are barely paid above minimum wage, yet their employer has cut their wages twice and increased their workload� (Behind the Label, 2005). Not only is this quite sad and disheartening but it s happening here in the U.S and it s a government run factory, one who makes our military equipment. This same situation reminds me of the movie we watched about those families in Hacienda Looc. These people live off the land. Developers wanted to take this away from them to build golf courses to add to there tourism. Families that live there fish and farm to survive financial and physically. Land to us is life itself. If you take our land, you have killed us,� (Hall, 2000). It seems that now a days companies like the American Power Source and even developers in Hacienda Looc will do anything for there own good. Makes you realize how un ethical people can be just make a buck.

I agree so much with nychick1021 about the danny almonte thing becaseu people do not recognize the reason behind him lying abou his age. He wanted to get out of the slums and make it in baseball but he was caught and did cheat but he reasoning was valid which still doesnt make it right but u can understand what hes going through

I agree so much with nychick1021 about the danny almonte thing becaseu people do not recognize the reason behind him lying abou his age. He wanted to get out of the slums and make it in baseball but he was caught and did cheat but he reasoning was valid which still doesnt make it right but u can understand what hes going through

Corporate sports sponsers get held in a light so high it is amazing. I have to say especially nike, becaseu everything about the corporation you hear is good. Nike does this nike does that. Nike helped sponser events for these kinds of people or that. I have to say I am an avid nike wearer and I own many pairs of shoes, shirts, socks, shorts, jackets, basically anything imaginable. When I scratched the surface on nike I found a very interesting article. It completely changed my views of these so called good guys. I kinda knew about the sweat shops and that sorta thing but I reall y nver knew the severity of it all. Of couse nike is not the only company doing this but it is a company that I have been sponsering for many years. Also for the past two years here at Towson we get alot of our gear from nike. We get jackets, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and shoes. It is just said that the worlds largest producer of athletic goods is this corrupt. I am really stuck between a roack and a wall here becaseu they have the best shoes and appearl out there but now that I know whose makingthese things it really hurts. "In the 1980's Nike an other shoe companies like Rebok, Adidas, Asics, Fila, and L.A. gear, manufactured alot of their shoes in South Korea. They paid workers very low wages, set up sweatshops with horrible working conditons and counted on the South Korean government to surpress any protests by the workers. This is just horrible how Nike can do this whern most of there shoes they sell are close to or above 100 dollars. This is sad and dissapointing becaseu you know the ones benefitting off our purchases are the office guys.

Angie Brewer makes a good point about Nike and their profit margin being so high, why can't they increase the working conditions better than less desirable? Why can't Nike's investors take a 2% pay cut even to increase pay? It's all about power and money which equal each other and they are afraid of losing both at the expense of helping out another person.

Being one of the more dominant companies supplying basketball, Nike contributes to several discredited practices. Outsourcing and using young children at unbearably low rates not only taints Nike s image but any company associated with them as well. Seeing as how Nike supplies more than half of basketball s sneakers, any team using the product will be disapproved. Since it has been noticed among the public at how immoral their practices are, basketball s sales have steadily declined. As much as Nike s sales should be declining due to the morals, Same-store sales are climbing at Nike's co-owned specialty stores like Nike Town� (Bogoslaw, 1997, p.6) which shows the lack of the public s concern if they benefit. It enhances a selfish society that has the power to make a change but does not.
Another example of how the United States uses it s power and sports to dominate those without the ability to defend themselves is stated in reference to how the, Oppressive relationship has lead most young Dominican boys to live a life where success in baseball becomes the only ticket out of working in predominantly U.S.-owned sugar factories for little to no pay� (White). As it is frowned upon Nike s practices and they are ridiculed for them, when it benefits another company or person, the United States is not as criticized for their ill modeling. If they are not presenting the example they want demonstrated, then it cannot be expected any change will take place. Forcing sports and their related items to be the only escape from the United States undesirable work is not the association sports should carry.
Without any drastic action, taking place to mend the more powerful companies, underprivileged countries are forced into working for them. Seeing as how sports are the only escape, many hope but few actually succeed enough to pass the abuse. Once they do become great athletes, they transfer to the United States to play; in turn, being forced to work for the U.S. regardless. Danny Almonte is an example of hoping playing baseball in the U.S. would allow him to escape the factories, only in turn to be slandered for his desperate attempts and lying. Since the U.S. is the powerful one representing this behavior, not many Americans analyzed it from a Danny Almote s perspective and his reasoning.
As long as Nike is increasing their profits and maximizing their utilization of resources, they will continue to outsource, taking advantage of the underprivileged with no authority to speak out. Having a strong influence in sports and being one of the leading sneaker companies, Nike has set the example for other companies such as Reebok and Adidas in order for them to be successful as well. Knowing what is taking place, why are American sports continuing to support them until their dishonorable practices are changed.

The first company that comes to mind when looking at the negative effects of corporate globalization is Nike. It is well known that Nike prays on countries where kids are sewing our sneakers, basketballs, soccer balls, shirts, and hats for as little as $.03 a day� (White). There have been countless studies of Nike and their unlawful inhumane working conditions so I would like to examine another corporate giant that maybe does not get as much backlash for its involvement in sports. McDonalds is a proud sponsor of countless athletic events and even have their own events such as the McDonalds All American games for high school athletes. Its sadly humorous that a company whose food is proven so detrimental to the human body (see Super Size Me�) is so heavily involved in the very activities where a healthy fully functional body is essential. Athletes are constantly warned against eating the McDonalds, Burger Kings, and KFC s of the world yet these are the companies that we constantly see in big bright letters supporting these events.
My point is companies such as McDonalds claim to be supporting athletics but all they are really doing is preying on the consumer just like a good business should. It is hard to say that McDonalds supports athletes when the consumption of the products that they provide are known to make you less and less athletic.

It is crazy to see that our luxuries are a result of someone s slave labor. As everbody else already touched on, Nike, the biggest sporting goods producer uses cheap labor to build their empire. Workers in Nike factories in Asia and Latin America struggle to survive on wages as low as $1 US a day, and are subject to severe fire hazards and physical and verbal abuse and humiliated and dismissed if they organize unions or talk to the media� (Zhu and Chong, 2005). When people see the brand Nike, they see a quality product. We overlook that these quality products are being manufactured overseas by underpaid women and children under extreme conditions. Not only this, but it is ridiculous to see how one of our countries favorite pastimes is also a chance for people of less fortunate countries to support their families. Children in the Dominican Republic are all struggling to be great at baseball due the realities of economics and obligations to families. Fun is not part of the equation. There are families to support and careers to pursue� (Mosher, 2001). It is hard to see that there is so much pressure and responsibility on children at such a young age.

I also agree with justin that these celbrities are being paid to make the public think that these big corpoate sponsors are suck good people. So that we wont look at what is really going on, that the close we are buying and wearing were made by an 11 year old boy from India. It makes me really mad that sports are no longer about the love of the game, like it was when we were kids. Just playing with your friends because its fun and you love the game. Now its all about money. which is why the parents of Danny Almonte had to lie about his age so that he could make money not for him, but for his family. Its so sad to see that our sports world has come to that. The Teachers are getting paid barley enough to survive, and Athletes are beign paid enough for 8 familes to live well.

What makes a sport popular and the players that play that sport rich are the sponsors behind that individual and that sport. For instance Reebok is the leading sponsor of the NFL but Nike also plays big role in sponsor ship. When Reggie Bush was a rookie he was individually sponsored by Nike now since this was against his contract, saying that he had to wear Reebok gear, Nike paid Reebok and the NFL to allow him to wear Nike. That is just simply marketing you don t see that in many other sports. In the NBA you have players with there own line of shoes like Carmelo Anthony, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James. Once again that is all marketing. I personally think it is horrible to have a sports popularity come down to the equipment they wear. It s really sad to think that the sporting industry is necessarily based on the skill on the player but how much money they can make that companies involved. Perfect example the movie Happy Gilmore, the only reason they allowed him to stay on the PGA tour was because the ratings were the highest they have ever been, and he was making a lot of people a lot of money. Now to big one big corporate sponsor I would have to choose Nike, because I feel like they are the worst. They are, in my opinion the most popular, they are an active role in almost any sport out there today. Nike makes a lot of sporting equipment and apparel for not just athletes but for anyone. What makes them the worst is that they make all there products in factories in poor countries where they can pay people very low wages and they can hire kids to work for even less. This is very hypocritical of them, to live a run their company from America but yet have there products made in other countries just to save some money. Nike also gives a lot of free stuff to colleges teams, but not all college teams only the good or popular ones. Ones that will help them sell their products; the University of Oregon receives all free Nike gear because Nike was founded at that University. Nike like most all other company pretend to care about the little guy, and try to better the sport for future generations, but in reality they are really hurting it, and only doing it just to earn a buck. When major corporate sponsors are giving out free equipment, and giving the better schools free equipment, it really takes away from the sport it self. It s demeaning to the sporting world that the better the equipment you have or the more sponsors you have the better the team you are and there fore you will receive more money and will be allowed to give more scholar ships. When these schools wear Nike, and sell Nike products in there school stores, and when we as consumers buy it, we are allowing Nike and all the other corporate sponsors to keep doing what they are doing, and tear down the real meaning behind sports, and why we played them as a kid(not for the money or the gear). By giving in to all this we further more keeping little kids working for no more then 33 cents an hour to make a pair of shoes, because company like Nike will go to any extent to make the most amount of money (Breton 2000).

I agree with TKuhl. "They try to impress the fans so they will buy the company s product. That is pretty much advertisement in a nutshell. But that is all it is, a shell. That is about where the glamour ends and the reality sets in" I think this is very true, we see the glamour and never see or even think about what is going on behind the scenes.

I agree with justin. It is interesting to see so many high profile celebrities endorsing many of the products that are coming from sweatshops. Instead of looking at all the tradegy that is occuring to produce these products, we see celebrities with big smile son their face influencing everyone to put the product.

When the word sweatshop is mentioned the first thing that comes to my mind is Nike�. I never knew much about the controversial topic. It was one of those things that I thought about for a few minutes and felt bad, but after doing some research my views have changed. It seems that sweatshops keep growing no matter how much more it is made aware to America. I feel that we know what is going on but we think that we can not make a difference. We think, why not buy it, everyone else is still buying their products?� Within most of the articles that I read about Nike and their sweatshops it seems like they are trying to hide the fact that they have not yet changed. They tried to reduce the amount of child labor, but their sweatshops are in locations where there is insufficient monitoring to make sure that this is achieved. In countries where people have no other option but to work in horrible conditions, children fall victim to working as well. It is as if they have no alternatives�. (Breton, 2000). Because adults do not make enough working in sweatshops, their children are forced to work there too.
Nike has such a high profit margin, so why can they not afford to pay workers a little more and make working conditions better? One answer was stated in class towards the beginning of the semester. If you were the head of a company and earned millions of dollars, would you really give it up?� Not only is Nike at fault, it also includes us, its consumers. Sure Nike has a huge responsibility in the matter, but obviously its consumers do not care nearly enough to force Nike to make a change yet. We are too concerned about buying the new top of the line� gear, or Lebron James new basketball shoes. Most of us have more anticipation that the products we buy will help us perform better, than the anticipation that sweatshops will not exist one day. The problems of sweatshops need to stay a hot topic� for anything to change, because we all know that the next new story makes us forget all about yesterday s headlines.

In the beginning of my dissection of sports and their effect on society, I looked at the issue of why sports matters. Now, diving deeper into the issue it has become apparent that the corporate entity that fuel sports do more than is on the surface. It is true that corporate companies such as Nike, produce goods that are vital to the existence of sport, but it is doing so while using unethical practices. After taking a critical look into one of the world s largest companies, Nike, it has become more apparent that they may actually be doing more harm than good.

Currently, Nike is the most profitable and most popular, shoe and clothing company s in the world. They employee workers overseas in order to produce the products we see on our shelves, all across America. In reality, these workers are being forced to work in harsh conditions, with minimal wages, are not allowed to organize any sort of union, and face hazardous conditions. It has been reported that employee s of various Nike factories make an astonishing twenty cents per hour, a measly $1.60 a day. If that is not punishment enough, workers are only allowed to go to the bathroom once in an eight hour shift and can not drink water more than twice. Many workers in these factories have also claimed to have been sexually abused, been victims of corporal punishment, and been forced to work overtime. (Saigon, 2007). The working conditions at Nike are far worse than any of their leading competitors. The way in which Nike treats its workers is directly related to the practice of slavery.

One can walk down any street, any hallway, look on any television and see some symbol for Nike. Whether it is the swoosh� or the slogan, just do it,� Nike is see almost ever where you turn. Growing up many children grow up and want to be like Mike.� What better way to be like the great Michael Jordan than to own a pair of his basketball sneakers. Surely, if you own a pair of Nike Air Jordans� you will be able to play like Mike�. In essence, someone who owns a pair of Nike Air Jordans� won t play like Michael Jordan, but instead will play like a Vietnamese, Nike employee, who got paid less than a quarter to make your sneakers. Since Nike is such a powerful corporation and have many Public Relations advisors, they are often able to cover up the matter. For instance, Nike recently started a promotion for eco-friendly� shoes. These new shoes will be made with hemp and rubber made with recyclable material. (E.B., 2007). That s great, but Nike is still enslaving workers to produce these eco-friendly shoes. The reality is that Nike is just giving new materials to their workers, in order to cover up what they are actually putting these employees through.

Nike isn t the only company that is using unethical practices to produce their goods or exploiting countries in Asia. For example, in the Philippines, villagers are being forced off their land in Hacienda Loc in order for to build a golf course. Imagine, someone comes and tells you that the place where you lived your whole live and all your ancestors lived, was being turned into a gold course. That is exactly what is occurring for the people living in Hacienda Loc. (Hall, 2000). Thus, many of the products that surround our daily lives are marred by what the company is doing behind the scenes.

Julie made some great points. People never think about all the struggles these people in outher countries are gong through to put shoes and whatnot on our feet. Its horrible what these corporations are doing.

After taking this class for the past semester, we have realized how we rarely looked at sports critically. I, like many others feel as if we are hypocrites because of ignoring some issues that exist. In most people s eyes, corporate sports sponsors and sporting good producers are a positive aspect of the sporting world. However, Ryan asks a good question. What is wrong with us as a people when we find time to complain about dog fighting, and steroids but couldn t care less about the fact that we do far worse just by putting on a pair of shoes?� Nike is a huge company that has been a sponsor and mainly a sporting goods producer. If you can think of something that would be used in a certain sport, it is most definite that Nike will have that product. Nike, like other companies, has been caught doing illegal things in the production of their products. In 1996, Nike was accused of using child labor in its production of soccer balls in Pakistan. In 1994, exports from Siakolt, in northern Pakistan brought an income of almost $385 million. Nike is often characterized of making its products in countries which aren t fully developed, has cheap labor, usually has an authoritarian government and countries that have a lack of human rights appeal and union movement. (american.edu) This was the first time Nike had to face questions about how they went about their production of their products. We don t think about things like this taking place, but instead when we think if Nike we think of the faces of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Lebron James, and many more athletes. Just like in Ryans article on Danny Almonte and the LLWS, different countries around the world are different. In these cases Pakistan breeds labor, and sometimes Dominicans learn to become immigrants in the US to work.

I also agree with the people who have brought up Tiger Woods sponsoring Nike and his dealings around Hacienda Looc. I do not believe there is any reason to doubt that he knew nothing about what was going on there but he is one of the faces that people around the world connect with NIke. He might not be the one promoting taking peoples land but he will be connected with that no matter what happens.

A.witmer has a lot of similar views to mine and I agree with the fact that we really do not know where our money is going to half the time. Even with sorporations like Locks of Love and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, there you don't know where your donations are going. It's sad that we can't even feel safe with giving to good causes for fear that our money might end up elsewhere.

As a Division I athlete I am given sporting clothes not only annually but at times daily. We have items from STX, Nike, Adidas, Under Armour etc. I never stopped to think about the price that was being paid to make the clothes that I wear every day. The only thing that I thought about was that I loved getting all the clothes, equipment, shoes etc for free. Now that its been on the news about the conditions under which children who make things for companies like Nike, it makes me feel sick that I get all these things for free at the price of a child working for hardly any money at all. People are willing to work in these types of conditions for little pay though, because they need the money. They will sacrifice their days and work for hours to make pocket change. Similar to this horrible treatment are the people of Hacienda Looc whose entire lives revolve around farming and their land. But to the farmers, the land is what mattered. In the words of one of our clients, "Land to us is life itself. If you take our land, you have killed us" (Hall, 2000). People are dying in this battle because the government wants to take that land and use it as a tourist thing, neglecting the fact that the people who live there rely on it. There are other corporations also whose inner-workings the public is not aware of. Lock of Love for example, is one where you do not actually donate to what you think you re donating for. I spoke to a friend last week who was looking to donate her hair for wigs for patients who have cancer and I assumed she would be going through Locks of Love. However, she went through a hair products company like Pantene Pro-V, because she said that Locks of Love does not donate all the hair that they cut directly to wig companies for cancer patients. She wanted to ensure that if she was going to donate her hair to someone that it went directly to a person who needed it.

I disagree with Francesscas about us supporting the prodcuts being as bad as michael vick. I mean e ned these goods but also know how they are made. The goods would not be produced if not for cheap labor. Is it fair no but there has got to be a solution. I think that vick didnt need to have dog fighting but did anyway to make mooney when he had it. And it is cruel. It seems to be a different situation.

retz23 has good points. Companies like nike need to use cheap labor or else the goods woulnt be produced as it is too costly. Plants would have to be shut down. There has got to be a way to compromise

acallaghan07 has good points in her response as Tiger woods didn't know what was going on, and sure hoped he looked into what was really taking place there. After it was announced at the press conference I am sure he went out of his way to reevaluate promoting the golf courses

I agree with the some of the Hacienda Looc' comments dealing with NIke and Tiger Woods. This in a sense makes Tiger look bad. Even though he did not know about what was going on there, he was a golf and Nike representitive, thus making people beleive that he was supporting the cause.

When thinking about which companies around the world who conduct unethical business or "cut corners," such as NIke and the portrayal of kids in the little league world series, I always think about the example of Philip Morris (now "Altria Group") and how they organize anti-smoking ad's towards kids and teenagers, yet they are the number one tobacco company in the world. In fact many of the cigarette ad's are targeted towards the teenage age group. The fact that Philip Morris Inc. puts out advertisments that try to persuade kids not to smoke, such as the "Think, Dont Smoke" (Zuckerbrod, 2002) ad, does not cover up for the fact that they will sell millions of dollars in tobacco products to the kid/teenage group. To me, it seems that they are just in a sense saving thier backside from scrutiny and critics, and trying to make it seem as if they do care about the younger generation, but in reality if they did not want the younger generation to smoke then they would not be in the business. In a study in 2002, it showed that many companies, which included Philip Morris, agreed to stop marketing in places where children have an easier chance to see them, but 82% of US kids were still able to see the ad's of the most popular youth cigarette brands. Along with that, the study showed that the most effective ads were the ads that were targeted towards kids. So in conclusion, I feel that if a company is going to produce tobacco products, do not try to cut corners and make it look like you are preching good things, when in fact it is just a cover up for your other youth enticing advertisments.

I agree with retz23 when saying companies are trying to fix their wrongdoings. In my research about Nike it said they issued a plan to fix their child labor. Although nothing has happened yet, Nike is showing that they are making an effort.

I am consumer that is willing to pay high price for my sneakers. I never thought about how the sneakers we wear are made. All I could think about when buying my sneakers is how good they look and comfortable they feel. The only thing I know about the sneakers we purchase is that they come from all over the world. Nike has factories all over the world producing the sneakers we see on shelves. By having factories around the world, Nike has created job opportunities. But, what we do not see is what is underneath Nike s scheme. Nike employs children in third world countries. Although, employing children may not seem harsh, Nike creates a sweatshop environment. A prime example of this can be seen in the third world country of Indonesia. Nike is employing Indonesian children under 16 years old to produce their athletic sneakers, confirming an earlier report by an American lobbying group that the children work in sweatshops like "slaves" (Harsono, 1996, pg. 1). According to Harsono, these children are paid the minimum wage which is equivalent to two dollars and seventeen cents in U.S. currency. In Indonesia that much is just enough to survive the following day to work. Child labor has been banned in the United States, but Nike has basically implemented it onto third world countries. These kids create sneakers that cost five dollars to make. However, Nike sells them in the United States anywhere from hundred to two hundred dollars. These kids working in the sweatshops do not see a dime from the profit of selling Nike sneakers. Joel D. Joseph, head of Made in the U.S. foundation, put it the best when he said: We are subsidizing, encouraging and failing to criticize the enslavement of young people in the Third World� (Harsono, 1996, pg. 1). Nike is being immoral and unlawful by allowing child labor in third world countries. Since child labor is prominent in third world countries, the workers can not fight back because this is the only source of income available.

I feel as though unless you look on the tag of your sporting wear, or really anything that you own, you do not know where it was made, who made it, in what kind of conditions it was made, or how much it cost to make. Even if you do happen to see the made in China� line on your clothes, does anyone ever stop to think about how someone else s life is being made/taken away because of the shirt on your back. After talking about how companies like Nike and Adidas have shifted their plants to overseas locations, where there is huge profit to be made for the small amount of people who actually gain from the sale of these items, it made me think about what can be done to stop the injustices these companies are pressing upon people. But then I realized that the Hanes t-shirt, made in Haiti, I have on was most likely made in the same conditions and by the same type of cheap labor. And while Nike has the likes of Tiger Woods, Adidas has David Beckham, Hanes uses Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all-time, for their advertising campaigns. Trying to find well known American companies� that actually make their products in the U.S., I came across the website http://www.apparelsearch.com/America.htm and looked down the list of companies that manufacture good right here in America. Only one company, New Era Cap Company, Inc., did I recognize as a major retailer. Even then, the website stated that a majority of its hats are made on U.S. soil, leaving you to wonder where and under what conditions the other hats are made.
In class we also discussed the situation taking place in Hacienda Looc and how a corporation is trying to take over land that has been owned by the locals for many generations. I feel as if this is just as bad a situation as the child (or cheap) labor going on in sweatshops around the world. This is because to the people of Hacienda Looc, the land is all they have. As stated by one local, "Land to us is life itself. If you take our land, you have killed us,� (Hall, 2000). The approximately 2,000 families that live here have farmed and fished throughout there lives and it is how they raise their families and maintain their livelihood. Fishing and farming is the one and only lifestyle at Hacienda Looc for the local people and the question they ask is "But what alternative do I have? If we lose our land, what future will my children have,� (Hall, 2000). Sure the golf course that plans on using Hacienda Looc claims that they will allow the local people to get jobs as caddies, but there is no way to trust the corporations when they seem to show compassion. If the corporation feels it is ok to take the land without coming to an agreement with the native people, why would anyone believe they would treat the local people with respect once they obtained what it is they came for.

I find it interesting that retz23 found Daewoosa paid certain people who work for very low wages In countries. I agree that companies are trying start fixing their wrongs that they have done.

If I had to think of a company that isn t everything that it is said to be it would have to be Nike. I will admit that I wear Nike shoes, and merchandise. However until now I have never really thought about the things they do to the workers they have. They have moved almost all there manufacturing plants oversees to make more profit. As I sit here and think about this I have known that they do this for a while I just tried to ignore it.
Ignoring the process by which my shoes or some ones shirt is made is hard to do especially in the society we live in today. Everyone wants the best cloths and shoes, along with being like everyone else in their community they just want to fit in. However in doing this it has made people not realize what they are supporting when they by that product. Yes some people in the United States might not know what Nike is does but this is a very small percentage of the population. The vast majority of the population sees in some shape during there daily life.
Tiger Woods is the main spokesperson for Nike and he wears all of his Nike merchandise every time he plays in a golf tournament. When we watched the movie when he went to Hacienda Looc in the Philippines to promote golf; he was asked if he knew about the destruction of the villages where the resort would go. He stated that he had no idea that it was taking place. In an article about the Hacienda Looc it was stated that the lands were granted to the farmers but in the mid-1990s large development corporations focused on the unspoiled beaches and coves of Looc as an ideal location for ecotourism resorts and luxury subdivisions. Farmers in Looc were told that they no longer owned the land; that their hillsides were to be bulldozed to create four golf courses, designed, according to the developers, by Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus (Hall, 2000).�
Even though the development has nothing to do with the Nike corporations directly, it does however indirectly have a play it this. Tigers Woods went there played and while there promoted Nike. He did not do this verbally but with the cloths he wore and being affiliated with them he did promote it. Thus Nike is some ways was involved because of Tiger Woods. The funny thing is the major sponsors sometimes have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. They could be promoting something that they think is good like promoting golf in the Philippines, when in fact they promotion of golf is destroying the normal life for many people.

Its a shame that star athletes are put in a spotlight more than others. If they do something wrong it gets blown up into this big issue, which I don't think is right and the media needs to stay out of athletes personal life. There only human, just like us.

I never thought about how my shoes and clothing were made or who made them. I take them for granted and I think a lot of people do as well. I always thought we had factory machinery making our clothing and sneakers. We buy these good like Nike and Reebok because of the name, but we never stop to think where these products came from. Huge corporate sponsors get major athletes to be a spokesperson for their product they are trying to sell. By doing this, they are convincing the society that it is okay to buy this product because this athlete uses it too. For example, Nike has Michael Jordan as their spokesman for many years. Together they have sold millions of products to consumers because of Jordan s high social class status and as a role model. Children want to be like him. Even adults aspire to be like him, just like the motto use to say, I want to be like Mike.� People followed that and listened because Michael Jordan said it.
You never stop to think that these products are made my other poor countries that hire people to make them for about 3 cents a day. And star athletes that we look up to are supporting this. Even when these athletes from other countries come to America, we still treat them as a lower social class than us. For example, Knowing he had no alternatives, the Athletics acquired Tejada's considerable talent for a mere $2,000. By comparison, Tejada's white American teammate, Ben Grieve, received a $1.2 million signing bonus� (Breton, 2000). These teams who are signing athletes from other countries know that they will take any offer made to them, just to come to America to live a better life. We aren t giving them the money they deserve because we know they won t complain about it. A lot of these minorities are better than the average American white baseball player, but yet we still don t give them the credit they deserve.

Disney owns various stations all over the world. It owns various news stations, Espn and much much more and attracts all types of people to watch and help them prodcue what they need as people buy it. They are forcd by company officials not to talk about issues like patt tilman, or will for a short time, and will get down on athletes when they do something wrong, as well as the owners too. But when they win or something else happens worse it either is forgotten or it is talked about much less which i find it a problem. Most people haddly talk about the sexual harassment suits at Madison square garden. Isiah Thomas is still there despite being found guilty and other MSG officials have been as well, yet they are still there. Something is wrong. In ESPN's case terral Owens constantly made disruptions because he knew the media would eat it up. More than if he had a big game. And that helps them get an increase in salary. They control everything the viewers watch or hear. They have shows like behind the lines which makes people have another perspective but most of the real issues go unnoticed or not talked about that much. Barry Bonds is found guilty yet ESPN still talks about this guy like he is a hero to people. Bill bilicheck cheats but keeps winning. People put it under the rug and no one checks tthe mess it leaves. It is kind of sad that no one trieds to make sure this doesn't happen again. I love ESPN and stuff but this s one thing I hate about them. They don''t follow up constantly when people want to hear about the issues. Sports uses sponsers for money and ESPN can't say as much anymore without getting worried about losing money. They hold things such as the National Spelling BEe. Now when did spelling become a sport. I don't consider racing, bowling or golf a sport. Think it is a game or activity but not a sport. A sport puts people through physical and mental strain on people at one time. It seems these are mostly just mental strain. They do it to attract more sponsers, becuase poeple watch it or what not but small things like this show they like money over keeping things by drawing a line with what is a sport, and what to show.

I think it is interesting that companies that produce the same products, like Nike and Adidas, function the same. They both take advantage of the same kinds of people and hinder them in the same way.

After personally viewing a film on the treatment of farmers from Hacienda Looc, a poor agricultural region in the Philippines, I have chosen to examine the uses of corporate sponsors to press the ideas of a golf course on the regions in which hundreds of people depend on a life of solitude and prosperity. During my viewing of the video I was shocked to learn that Tiger Woods had been a part of the craze that was destroying Hacienda Looc. He personally had no idea of the persecution that people were being placed under in order for the corporate developers to make a huge profit while exploiting the farmers in the region that is Hacienda Looc. The only argument to this persecution is the fact that the people were offered money for their land. The farmers cooperation was sought with promises of employment as golf caddies and groundskeepers. It all seemed perfectly sensible to those whose fortunes were about to be made by the development.� (Hall, 2000) All of which didn t include the high costs of housing that would be made available for those who could afford it. Even with the support of many lawyers the corporate developers continually used deadly force to move the farmers off of their land, and if unable to intimidate them off their property they were killed. Although no one has ever been convicted of these murders, there has been plenty of evidence to convict the men who committed the crimes but they too have intimidated those in power to convict them. The developers somehow have gained a stronghold on the government in the area which in turn is going to lead to more violence until there is no more resistance. Just knowing that Tiger was asked to be a part of this and he did no research on the culture is quite disconcerting. The corporations in which he is a part of may in some way be connected to the persecution of the people in Hacienda Looc. Thus this leads me to believe that without a world full of corporations everyone and thing in this world would be better off.

I also agree with Francesscas pos