# Aside from diamonds and chocolate, what other products are ethically questionable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300 "2016-04-05T22:29:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/21 "2016-04-06T01:44:15Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Almonds are basically stealing water from California and making their drought worse. I came here to say the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/22 "2016-04-06T01:50:50Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > That’s called “work adjustment,” and Goodwill doesn’t get to decide how much they will pay someone. The adjustment is done at voc. rehab. A person’s rate of production as a percentage of a typical rate is calculated, and then it is legal to pay that person the same percentage of whatever the pay rate is for their job. If their production rate is 78%, and the job pays minimum wage, then the person can be paid 78% of minimum wage. If the job pays $15/hr., then the person is paid $15x.78/hr. People get periodically re-evaluated, and evaluated doing a specific job once they are hired somewhere. > > A person is also eligible for SSI (supplemental security income) from Social Security, which makes up some of the difference. > > It’s not “slave labor.” It’s the only chance a lot of people with serious cognitive disabilities have to work outside a sheltered workshop. Goodwill is not the only employer who takes employees on work adjustment. Lots of places do. > > I have personally known people who started out earning just a couple of dollars an hour on work adjustment, but as they worked the job, and got good at it, their speed increased, and they worked their way up to normal wages, and then sometimes even merit raises. Many of these sub-minimum wage workers are paid this way so they can have their own money that they earned themselves, without compromising their SSI and Medicaid eligibility. While the book was written about 30 years ago, the philosophy is still the same: In her autobiography, the late opera singer Beverly Sills, whose son is (was?) deaf and mentally disabled, said that he was employed at a sheltered workshop that had a contract with Dr. Scholls to package certain items whose packaging could not be automated, and he was paid IIRC 5 cents a package. She said that he was not being exploited; he was performing a needed service and this enabled him to have money he could spend on things he wanted. I also know a woman whose daughter has Down Syndrome and is currently working at a place where she assembles items and is also paid by the piece. I don’t purchase or knowingly eat Tyson products because of the way they treat their employees, and the animals they process. It’s an unwritten rule that our local plant won’t hire people who speak English. :mad::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/23 "2016-04-06T04:14:25Z")
Oil. Extraction and use of it is environmentally damaging. A lot is strife in the world is due to oil possession or lack thereof. Some questionable people have power due to oil. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/24 "2016-04-06T05:01:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Virtually no one buys all of their clothing used (underwear? socks? lingerie? shoes?). You never met my ex. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/25 "2016-04-06T13:23:08Z")
In places such as Thailand slave labor is extensively used in fishing. And Thailand has a large, exporting fishing industry. Bottom line: If your goods are coming from a place with really cheap labor, people are being exploited and many times horribly so. Walmart didn’t become a retail giant selling stuff that was made in clean, safe factories where people make middle class wages. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/26 "2016-04-06T13:27:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > In places such as Thailand slave labor is extensively used in fishing. And Thailand has a large, exporting fishing industry. > > Bottom line: If your goods are coming from a place with really cheap labor, people are being exploited and many times horribly so. Walmart didn’t become a retail giant selling stuff that was made in clean, safe factories where people make middle class wages. Actually, when Sam was still running the place, it was a point of pride that everything was made in the U.S. Can’t say about the factories, though. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/27 "2016-04-06T13:34:57Z")
Fois Gras. The flavor comes from the immorality. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/28 "2016-04-06T13:50:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > That’s called “work adjustment,” and Goodwill doesn’t get to decide how much they will pay someone. The adjustment is done at voc. rehab. A person’s rate of production as a percentage of a typical rate is calculated, and then it is legal to pay that person the same percentage of whatever the pay rate is for their job. If their production rate is 78%, and the job pays minimum wage, then the person can be paid 78% of minimum wage. If the job pays $15/hr., then the person is paid $15x.78/hr. People get periodically re-evaluated, and evaluated doing a specific job once they are hired somewhere. > > A person is also eligible for SSI (supplemental security income) from Social Security, which makes up some of the difference. > > It’s not “slave labor.” It’s the only chance a lot of people with serious cognitive disabilities have to work outside a sheltered workshop. Goodwill is not the only employer who takes employees on work adjustment. Lots of places do. > > I have personally known people who started out earning just a couple of dollars an hour on work adjustment, but as they worked the job, and got good at it, their speed increased, and they worked their way up to normal wages, and then sometimes even merit raises. Even without the revelations that the low pay has a perfectly good reason, who would have been being ethically sketchy- Goodwill for paying what the law allows them to pay, or the government, for allowing cognitively disabled people to be paid such a low amount? I have a hard time getting behind the idea that Goodwill had necessarily done anything so very wrong in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/29 "2016-04-06T14:00:01Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > How about: is there anything you can buy that’s _not_ conflict free? ☹ That’s really the point. Absolutely everything is morally questionable if your moral standards are high enough. So whose standards are we applying? And who is “we”? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/30 "2016-04-06T15:25:02Z")
We can’t be perfect, and can only do our best. For example, I never buy seafood that is from a far-away place, preferring U.S., accepting Canadian. I buy S.A.S. shoes – San Antonio Shoe company. Shoes are manufactured in Texas and are excellent quality. I try not to buy products from China and if I can get made in U.S.A., will do so. I will give up coffee and chocolate when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/31 "2016-04-06T15:29:59Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > What if you buy used clothing? That wouldn’t change “you are practically guaranteed to be buying from a sweatshop at some point in the chain,” since it’s the same chain, just with at least one extra link. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/32 "2016-04-06T15:33:15Z")
What is ethically questionable? Isn’t eating whale meat in that category? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/33 "2016-04-06T15:51:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That wouldn’t change “you are practically guaranteed to be buying from a sweatshop at some point in the chain,” since it’s the same chain, just with at least one extra link. Hey, if we spend enough on clothing maybe they’ll get around to air-conditioning the sweatshops. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/34 "2016-04-06T15:53:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Hey, if we spend enough on clothing maybe they’ll get around to air-conditioning the sweatshops. Probably not. That would carve into the profit margin. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/35 "2016-04-06T16:09:53Z")
I don’t understand this “sweatshop” thing. How can you make money from a shop that sells sweat? Who would buy such a thing? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/36 "2016-04-06T16:13:21Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I don’t understand this “sweatshop” thing. How can you make money from a shop that sells sweat? Who would buy such a thing? [Spray on sweat.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huOLkHLMVn4) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/37 "2016-04-06T16:43:53Z")
Unless this gets more abstract this quite a non GQ topic. By its very title. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/38 "2016-04-06T17:14:14Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Almonds are basically stealing water from California and making their drought worse. I seriously doubt the [almonds](http://australianalmonds.com.au/) I buy are stealing water from California. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/39 "2016-04-06T17:24:49Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > We can’t be perfect, and can only do our best. For example, I never buy seafood that is from a far-away place, preferring U.S., accepting Canadian. I buy S.A.S. shoes – San Antonio Shoe company. Shoes are manufactured in Texas and are excellent quality. > > I try not to buy products from China and if I can get made in U.S.A., will do so. > > I will give up coffee and chocolate when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. Several years ago, a regional grocery chain started selling salmon that was caught in Alaska and processed in China. Regulations required that this be posted; they had to stop doing this because people refused to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/40 "2016-04-06T17:27:33Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > What is ethically questionable? Isn’t eating whale meat in that category? There are some areas where whale hunting is legal, and highly regulated. The Alaskan Inuit do it (it’s a huge tourist attraction in Barrow) and there are parts of the northern Atlantic where it’s done too. One of my Facebook friends, a former co-worker, went on a cruise to Greenland and Iceland several years ago, and saw reindeer steaks and whale meat lasagna on the buffet. She couldn’t bring herself to try either of them. I would personally have no issue with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300.md?page=3)