How do you feel about sweatshops? There are a lot of young Americans who want to rid the world of them. They're demanding that rules be passed to improve workers' lives. So who could say give me a break to that? John, of course. Of course. And I do Barbara because rules that in theory will make work better. And reality can make work disappear. And I love it! Last month there were big protests in Cancun, Mexico during the meeting of the World Trade Organization. Oh, oh, it's not you, yeah! They always protest wherever this meeting is held. It's not the only one. And the protests are being supported by increasing numbers of American students. What's my favorite? Who say workers are being mistreated? That's not my favorite, it's not to go. Sweatshops are what they object to most. Factories like this one in Bangladesh, where adolescent girls make sweaters and are paid a fraction of American wages. A protestor seemed to be winning the battle of public opinion. In 1996 they made Kathie Lee Gifford cry by saying she was exploiting these young workers in Honduras who made her clothing line. I'm supposed to be personally responsible for everything that happens around the world in Honduras. Yes, say protestors like these. Within weeks Kathie Lee was admitting the error of her ways. She joined President Clinton at the White House as she renounced the mistakes of her past. That was one blast and one pant too many. Union stop, that's what's up! Union stop, that's what's up! The student groups who protest get subfunding from labor unions. The Steelworkers Union lets one group use part of their offices in Washington, D.C. Maybe that's why the protesting students are also upset about wages in America. This group once took over the office of Harvard's president and held it for three weeks demanding higher wages for workers at the school. Their supporters camped outside and even big time actors Matt Damon and Ben Affle showed up to give their support. Senator Ted Kennedy came out and shook the students' hands. One of the leaders of this protest was Ben McKee. He assembled this group of student leaders to tell us what they're upset about. The workers themselves have come to us and said, you benefit from our exploitation, give us back something. And if we can tell the corporations that we don't want to buy products that are being made by people that they're able to exploit, then we can really help to end some of the serious problems affecting these people's lives. All that sounds very nice, except when we talk to some people who live in the places where the workers are supposedly being exploited in sweatshops. We heard a different story. I wish these people would begin to think with their brains rather than with their hearts. The back de Brois, an economist who lives in India, we interviewed him and these other supporters of globalization as they were on their way to can't cool. I don't understand the expression sweatshops. There's nothing wrong with sweat. Sweat is good. Sweat is what most people in the developing world, including India do all the time. People get jobs in these places. The generation lives better than their parents lived. Junarunga studies trade policy. She lives in Kenya. Doesn't the United States have a responsibility to stop these companies from exploiting people in your country? Exploiting people? Nobody in my country thinks about companies exploiting them. When there's new company opening a factory, people are excited about it. A Rungan, the broi, point out that in poor countries, the Nike factories that well-fed American students call sweatshops routinely pay twice what local factories pay. And more than triple what people earn doing much harder and more dangerous work in the field. I wish we would have more sweatshops, quote-unquote, in my country. Most economists say what many Americans call sweatshops are what allowed people in now thriving places like South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to pull themselves out of poverty. People started in the sweatshops, but then they moved on to better jobs. Most of them work for these companies for a while, go off and start their own businesses. It's a win-win situation for everyone. And that, she says, is why the students who protest are ignorant and clueless. We don't want our clothes made in sweatshops. They have no idea what they're talking about. They're comparing that to what they have in their rich homes. They call people like you ignorant and clueless. Rich ignorant and clueless. The image that we have is being rich and clueless and just idealist college students is a false one. Do I have a vision of how I want the world to be? Sure. Of course I do. I want the world to be one where people don't have to struggle to feed their children. The workers are forced to migrate into the city or into places where factories like these exist. They're forced to force them. They travel to the factory. They choose to work there. I mean you would prefer eating to not eating. Sure. But if you insist on higher wages, some of these factories will close. You're going to put people out of work. We're not trying to close down sweatshops. We're trying to change sweatshops. You say you're not, but that's the result of your protest. Some places will close. They'll go where the wages are lower. The goal is to raise the wages across the board. The protest would say they don't want to take away the jobs. They just want to make them better. By passing laws, trying to improve the jobs by force, they will get rid of the jobs. After the protests against Kathy Lee's clothing line, Walmart withdrew its Kathy Lee contract from a New York factory, taking work away from these workers. American complaints about child labor, persuaded factories in Bangladesh to stop hiring adolescents. The result, according to UNICEF, is that many of the young girls turned to prostitution instead. These protests help poor people give me a break.