Should this be something that we shut down trade with Bangladesh over? If we continue to sell and buy stuff from a country that is gunning down its people over protests, doesn't that discredit any moral authority that we have? But at the same time, does it worsen the job situation and make the protests worse?
Shutting down trade will make life worse for Bangladeshis (and complications for apparel companies here). Textiles and garments are huge exports for Bangladesh and those industries employ many, many people there. I'm also of the opinion that the people of a country should be considered separate from its government and military (which may not have support from its people and be corrupt)
I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying that a country should embargo a country doing evil regardless of considerations about moral authority. Or are you saying that moral authority isn't a thing and therefore a country shouldn't embargo another country even if they are doing evil?
“…doesn't that discredit any moral authority that we have?”
This has the same answer as —
If we continue to sell and buy stuff from a country that HAS AND WOULD gun down its people over protests, doesn't that discredit any moral authority that we have?
It would be a worthy movement to lobby Congress/Parliament to sanction, via tariffs, countries whose governments suppress speech like that, but who’s going to start it, which critical mass of cheap-products-loving people in free societies are going to support it?
Do you believe that the Tiananmen Square Massacre didn’t occur? If not — the parent’s question has to do with China because the parent is assuming free societies that engage in trade with China (whose governing regime has gunned down protesters) have moral authority to lose when, in fact, there is no difference between engaging in trade with regimes that would gun down its citizens who engage in protest (ie, Bangladesh) and engaging in trade with those that have and that would (ie, China).
So from a cursory reading, these protests were originally because a quota system for government jobs, originally intended for descendants of veterans, was in the past paused, and now has been reimplemented as set-asides for politically favored demographics?
Yes, that’s one part of the initial protest.
See https://northeastbylines.co.uk/news/world-news/report-from-b... for details.
Unfortunately Bangladesh’s democracy was slowly suffocated, with the only party in power liking their corruption schemes a little too much to allow for fair elections.
