On a recent visit to Turkey I was out in my car when I happened across a MacDonalds and a retail park in the middle of nowhere.
On enquiring why these 2 establishments were sited here I was informed that just down the road there was a factory, American owned.
The factory was producing denim jeans.
The factory workers were paid 50$ a month for an 8 hour daily shift.
The jeans were retailing at 75$ per pair.
Your thoughts?
Additional Details
On returning to my hotel I enquired of the owners what their views were on this situation.
They informed me that in this rural part of Turkey it was difficult for the locals to get work and they would take any form of employment to put food on the table.
They despised the exploitation of their fellow countrymen and added that it was no wonder that the indigenous population disliked the Americans for exploiting them in this way. I appreciate that 50$ goes further in Turkey per month than it would in the Western World.
However, my point is that if American companies are internationally flying the flag for America they are not doing a very good job.