Like an aberrant black walnut tree of gargantuan proportion, American Capitalism(1) exudes toxins that stunt or eradicate nearly every living thing attempting to grow within the circumference of its expansive root system.

While visions of sugar plums are dancing through the heads of many US Americans, Santa’s real elves wallow in abject misery. 57% of the toys sold in the United States are imported from China, with Wal-Mart leading the way. In December of 2001 the National Labor Committee issued a report entitled Toys of Misery which profiled the working conditions in Chinese factories that produced Harry Potter and Barbie toys. Working 16 hours a day and seven days a week, young Chinese women received as little as 17 cents per hour to perform repetitive operations over 3,000 times per day. They languished in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees while breathing noxious fumes in improperly ventilated buildings(4).

Unfortunately for Chinese laborers, more recent reports indicate little improvement in their situation(5,6,7). Evidence compiled just last month demonstrates that suppliers for Wal-Mart, Hasbro, and Disney are still egregiously exploiting employees in Chinese toy factories. Even Dickens would have been shocked at the plight of these wretched souls.