[Avodah] Tzinius and the ILG

[Daniel Israel]

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:58:21 -0700 Shmuel Weidberg 
<ezrawax at gmail.com> wrote:
>Are sweatshops ethically problematic? Certainly we find it that 
way,
>but we live in a rich country. In poor countries those are the only
>kind of jobs available and it's either work in a sweatshop or 
>starve. ...

If sweatshops were clearly ethical or clearly unethical then there 
would be no ethical problem.  The ethical problem is precisely that 
the factors you mention and the factors RnIS mention are in 
conflict and which one should win out is not at all clear.

Or, to put it in l'maaseh terms, I don't have a problem with 
someone who chooses to buy such merchandise nor with someone who 
doesn't.  The problem is someone who denies that there are ethical 
(by which we here must mean halachic) implications to the decision.

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu