Updating Marx

Last June a treaty protecting domestic workers from abuse was promulgated under the auspices of the International Labor Organization, a branch of the United Nations.  128 countries voted for the treaty; one (Swaziland) opposed on the grounds that domestic workers should enjoy the same rights given to other workers.

One of major violators of domestic worker rights is Saudi Arabia.  Domestic workers there have been raped, tortured, and even beheaded.  When the Philippine government complained about the Saudi treatment of its migrant domestic workers, the Saudis threatened to hire thousands of Bangladeshis at lower wages than Filipino workers received.

Karl Marx predicted that as capitalism advanced, worker interests would overlap national boundaries.  For example, workers in Germany would have more in common with workers in France than they would with the capitalistic rulers of Germany.  The workers, with nothing to lose but their chains, would form an international unified brotherhood. 

Marx was partially right.  Capital has indeed become international.  Money easily flows around the world; what happens in Greece or China can affect the American stock market a few hours later.  There are over 300 WalMart stores in China, and the WalMart in Mahoning Township is stocked with Chinese goods.  We have global capitalism.

What is not international is the workforce.  Labor unions are almost all organized on a country-by-country basis.  Political parties don’t cross national boundaries.   Environmental groups, with a few exceptions like Greenpeace, follow national lines. 

You can’t control international capital with national organizations.  Raise worker standards in one country and watch companies move to another country with lower standards.  Tighten pollution laws in one country, and watch polluting industries move to a country with lax pollution rules.  Protect domestic workers from the Philippines, but find that Bangladeshis who are even more desperate will take the jobs.  Karl Marx must be rolling over in his grave.

By the way, it is doubtful that the U.S. Senate will ratify the Domestic Workers Treaty.  It would interfere with our sovereignty.