Australia should stop exporting from China

This is a nice paper for a 12 year old...if you are indeed a 12 year old. You can never tell on the internet. You could be a 45 year old, South African man, for all I know. But nevermind that. I'll assume I'm debating a 12 year old Aussie. I am American, not Australian, so I probably should not have accepted a debate about what Australia should, or should not do. But the arguments you make here are basically a lot like ones I hear here in America, so it should still be okay, I think. So... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My opponent, I think, has made a mistake that so many people, whether 12 years old, or 30 years old, make when deciding issues of policy and trade. They often find out an horrible fact- let's say poor factory conditions in China, or economic inequality in big, rich countries, like Australia, or America, and then declare that it should stop. This declaration seems like the best thing to do; the right thing to do. But often, people who make such declarations do not think of the consequences that would follow if they had their way. Let us think about some of these consequences. Firstly, factory conditions in countries that are not America, or Europe, or some other developed nation, are often bad, as we in the comfortable, rich west would consider them. It is true that it would be better if Chinese workers (or other workers in poorer countries) had better protections. But we stopped buying products from China, would that make things better for the Chinese worker? The answer is no. For not only would this not help improve their working conditions, they would also very likely be put out of a job. The factory they work in is probably dirty. It is probably uncomfortable, and they do not have coffee breaks like we in the west do. But they work these jobs to get money to feed themselves, and to have a place to live. We may think it is more moral to stop buying these cheap products from them, but in fact, they would be even worse off if they lost their jobs. Furthermore, we should remember: any worker ANYWHERE in the world will only work a job if there is no better option for them. As bad as factory conditions might be, as little money as they might make, it is still better work than they could probably get elsewhere. Many of them either work there, or work in extremely tough conditions ploughing fields of mud to plant crops. This is very hard work, and pays even less money! And sometimes, workers don;t even have that option- it's either the factory, or nothing. What about children working in these conditions? Well, that is horrible. There's no two ways about it- it is very bad. But I would remind you that almost every nation, which went through a period of industrialization, has also had to go through child labor periods. In America, in England (famously), and many other places, there was a time when it was more valuable to the family (including the children) to work instead of going to school. In many countries, many families have to have TWO working parents in order to bring in enough money to maintain a lifestyle. Throughout history, it was only the man, or husband, who had to go out and get a job, but now the woman or wife must often go out and work as well. However, in these extremely poor countries, not only the husband AND the wife, but the children must also work as well, or else they cannot make enough money to get food and shelter. It is terrible, but starvation is worse. To continue, let us look at what might happen to America or Australia if we no longer imported cheap products. If the average person in America, for example, could no longer buy cheap products, it would put them in a very bad spot. If a poor person in America could not buy cheap products, it is doubtful that they could live on their own at all. I suspect that it's the same for Australia. They would all have to get money to live from the government- even more than they might already get. Here in America, many products are already becoming too expensive. Food, clothes, even the price of homes is starting to rise again. However, economists have studied the effects of stores that have cheap, Chinese made products. They have discovered that stores with cheap products in them is like giving the poor $3,000 a year more in pay, because they can afford more things. If we stopped importing from China, then not only would the Chinese factories and workers suffer, but the poor and middle class in our countries would suffer as well, because they are the ones that benefit most from having inexpensive products. In conclusion, we must always remember to think about the effects that will happen if we say that we want something to stop or to continue. It may be nicer of us, and more moral to demand that we not buy products from places where workers do not have a very nice environment, but we must always remember to think about what might happen if we stopped. It is not enough to say that we should do something good. We must follow through and think about what the good will actually accomplish. Sometimes, the results of our good actions are not very good at all...