on the news about Mattel

funny...Mattel is showing its "corporate responsibility" by issuing warning to parents and kids about the hazardous materials put on its toys and other gadgets for kids being sold in its markets around the world.

im sure many have heard this news yesterday. i first saw it in TV Patrol then in CNN afterwards. the local news piece somehow tried to make it a balanced story by highlighting its impacts on viewers who might (despite the ongoing economic crisis) still be loyal consumers of Mattel toys. the piece includes an interview with a representative of Toys R' Us who assures parents that the toys have been recalled. a clip was shown of the warehouse where the toys are presently stored, the local government undecided on what to do with it, since local laws state that they should be brought back to their country of origin, but the US manufacturer has yet to issue any guideline as whether the toys will be destroyed.

i could already imagine myself thinking of how to sneak into the warehouse and steal some of the toys if i were still a seven year-old kid today. never mine the dangers of "lead" content in the colors of Mr.Train or the small magnets that can choke toddlers and young kids to death. but that's beside the point.

the toys were made in China, no surprise there. both the local news piece and the one done by CNN mention that almost 80% of all manufactured items - toys, clothes, shoes, food-processed stuff, furniture, etc - are made in China, what has been the country of paradise for TNCs salivating for less costs and more profits by subcontracting smaller manufacturing firms that offer the least wage possible for its workers, and the least regulation possible from the host country.

which brings me to my main point. the CNN piece was biased. it offered the usual sides, interviewing Mattel representatives, as well as a representative of US health inspection authorities, aside from a video clip of the Chinese company where the toys were made.

The CNN piece subtly relays the message that Mattel should be lauded for bringing into attention the dangers of its own toys rather than hushing it up, and that the blame largely lies on the Chinese manufacturer, who because of fierce competition had to imagine ways of production at the least possible cost, nevermine the materials used or its effects on consumers.

which is the main point of this issue. its not about China and its reportedly weak implementation of regulations on its own industries. its about the whole economy of TNCs dominating the world market and relying on subcontractors in Third World countries to produce its wares at the least possible costs.

Mattel surely is not the first TNC to experience "production lapses" in its goods. Surely TNCs are expected to know if its products made in countries with weak regulations still follow stringent rules that maintain the high quality and delivers on its promise to protect consumers.

But because of the lack of regulations on TNCs themselves, brought upon by free market economics and neoliberal policies, corporate responsibility continues to be a myth.

How can we expect TNCs to be responsible when these entities allow, condone, support and dictate that workers making its products in China, Philippines, Ecuador, India or any other Third world country remain in inhumane working conditions, with barely decent living wages and zero benefits?

If they can allow such injustice, then surely having hazardous products would not be a big deal. While some sectors can applaud Mattel's decision to inform authorities and the public of its dangerously made toys, the same decision can also be taken as another sales pitch, using the logo of corporate responsibility and reverse pyschology to ensure its customers to stay with Mattel and ensure the company won't be seeing red by the end of the year, what with the Christmas shopping season already in the corner. Mattel's spin doctors have surely worked hard to employ a crafty yet risky strategy.

I mean, everybody knows Made in China products are not always of the best quality, yet here it is CNN reporting the fact as if it was just discovered with Mattel. it also goes to show that whatever economic miracle China is having right now, its not because of Adam Smith and the Washington Consensus, and it remains a shallow growth one that will surely blow up like a pink bubble precisely because of Adam Smith and the Washington Consensus.

China knows how to regulate. It just made the mistake of opening up fully its economy to foreign investors and their TNCs without further developing its economic backbone.

But the TNC-controlled global economy does not know how to regulate. For TNCs, regulation means less profits, and less profits means failure in an increasingly "competitive" landscape.

and because of this, things like hazardous Mattel toys and even Nokia batteries that overheat are occuring in the market. and surely we all know this is just the tip of the iceberg.