People wishing to help the downtrodden in emerging countries have to be careful that they don't create huge economic distortions in the countries they are trying to "help."
China's economy, however people are paid, is somewhat in balance. If Apple, or Apple and HP, were suddenly to start paying Foxconn workers American-sized wages, it would be as if space aliens landed in Kansas and started paying workers at the Cessna plants -- and only the Cessna plants -- $700,000 per year. That's not a recipe for happiness, it's a ticket to social unrest.
If you don't like the way it is in China, don't go there. But let the Chinese worry about how they get from the 19th century to the 21st. Our transition was ugly and at times violent. We have no room to lecture others on how to industrialize.
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