The two first-year questions detonated, that is, the shameless H&M rumored forced labor of Xinjiang cotton, which aroused the anger of the people across the country for a while.
Regarding this kind of movie, the behavior of picking up the bowl to eat, putting down the bowl and smashing the pot, we firmly refuse, and more and more celebrities come forward and announce the termination of some shameless brands. Many people don’t understand how there are such shameless organizations and companies, but in fact, if we understand the history of Western cotton, it will be obvious that the history of Western development is full of shamelessness and plunder. The history of cotton.
cotton seems inconspicuous, but it actually detonated the modern western industrial revolution , but this process is full of blood and shamelessness. Let’s take a look at the history of western cotton development and understand them. Regarding the development of cotton, you will understand that the West has always had a shameless principle for cotton.
(01) Godsend god
Now we are almost inseparable from cotton, especially in the history of human development, cotton, as a warm clothing, has advantages that all other materials do not have.
The silk is too delicate, the wool is too heavy, and the flax fiber is short and difficult to dye. As for cotton, it is warm, light, long fiber, flexible, easy to dye, and cost-effective. It is suitable for the dressing requirements of various people in different latitudes around the world. Without cotton, there would be no civilized life as we are today, so we are in a huge "cotton empire".
But it is a pity that such a beautiful thing is as white as snow and can provide warmth protection to human beings. It is not available in Europe. Cotton is suitable for growing in areas between 32 to 35 degrees south latitude and 37 degrees north latitude.
The frost-free period in these areas is about 200 days a year, the temperature is not less than 10 degrees Celsius, and the rainfall is between 500-635 mm. However, Europe is generally in the alpine zone, where cotton is not produced, which is very important for humans. s things.
But the usual European principle is that if I don’t have one, I’ll grab it. I don’t have gold and silver treasures. Then the crusade is composed of gangsters, robbers, unemployed people, and they go to rich places. In the process of the
Crusade, they finally realized that there was something called cotton in the world. The previous rumors were true. This thing is really good. So for such a good thing, the Crusaders stopped leaving. They controlled part of the Middle East and started cotton cultivation. Since then, there have been textile factories in Milan, Venice, and in northern Italy.
This is a specific thing that Europe has always liked. If you don’t have it, shoot. Later, the Europeans were lucky and opened a great voyage, and discovered India and the New World. Since then, the cotton empire mode has been opened, and these are accompanied by Efforts to trade and colonial plunder were launched.
(02) primitive accumulation
Marx said that in the primitive accumulation of capitalism, every pore is filled with blood. This is true. Before the industrial revolution began, the great voyage of Europe opened slavery. Trade and trafficking efforts were mainly to make them labor, and the commodity that consumed most labor at that time was cotton. The most primitive accumulation of capital in
is not the industrial revolution, but something called "war capitalism ". Its core is slavery, the exploitation of indigenous people, the expansion of empires, armed trade, and capitalists’ treatment of the people and land. Claim sovereignty.
Because cotton is a labor-intensive industry, those capitalists traded a large number of slaves from Africa to the Americas, forming the planting model of large manors in the North American colonies.
By continuously killing and expelling the local natives, the colonists are gaining more and more wealth. The East India Company is getting richer and richer, and if it has money, it will continue to invest in reproduction, seeking pleasure to expand the slave trade and increase the cultivation of cotton. and produce.
The crazy cotton planting destroyed the original local economy, and the degradation of the economic structure has plunged India into a huge crisis.The country’s masters ignored it. All the British wanted was cotton and the economic benefits brought about by it.
At the end of 1870, 6 to 10 million people died of famine in India. By 1890, the number of deaths caused by famine was still on the rise, but at the same time, the British, American, and continental European industrial empires established a leading position through the cotton textile industry. Status, no wonder the Queen of England said that India is the brightest jewel in the British crown.
India is the jewel, mainly because the United States has left the United Kingdom. Otherwise, the United States is the brightest jewel, especially in the southern United States, which has huge cotton plantations and employs a large number of black slaves for labor.
At that time, the American South even became the lifeblood of the cotton empire. The total economic volume far exceeded that of the North. It can be said that the slave owners were rich in oil. This is why after Lincoln came to power, the American South dared to challenge the North. the reason.
Before the American Civil War, many people were optimistic about the South. They believed that the South was strong, but economic strength did not mean everything. The evil black slave system had been opposed by most people. After the Civil War, the United States abolished the black slave system. This suddenly brought a huge impact to the cotton industry in the south.
But soon the capitalist countries came out of the short-term impact of the abolition of black slaves. All countries began to experiment with new labor systems. From coolies to tenant farmers to hired workers, these people became the new main labor force.
In the entire global trade structure, cotton played a huge role. Because of the establishment of cotton empires, the great powers further controlled the world market through the control of cotton trade.
(03) The new empire
entered the twentieth century, and the voices for independence of the colonies became higher and higher. At the same time, the cotton textile industry workers of various countries also began to fight for their rights.
Textile workers were the backbone of the Russian revolution from 1905 to 1919. In China, the fuse of the May 30th Movement in 1925 was that the Japanese cotton factory owner in Shanghai shot and killed the worker leader Gu Zhenghong. After this, there was a vigorous revolution, the Northern Expedition, and the National Government to unify the country in form. .
colonists worked hard, this trend is unstoppable, the old empire finally, finally came to the end, the sun never sets the empire, and finally there is only an empty shelf left, like a declining nobleman looking at the world.
The empire is gone, but the "cotton empire" is still there. Through the capital and technology accumulated in the early stage, the capitalist countries have established a perfect cotton supply system around the world, turning the third world countries into the supply of cotton. And terminal sales are firmly controlled in their hands.
They transferred cotton cultivation to third world countries. In 2012, China and India alone accounted for 50% of the global cotton raw product exports. The center of the global cotton industry moved from Europe to Asia.
However, in this consumer era, production is not the king of the past, but sales are the king. The Western world firmly controls terminal sales. Giant retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour treat contractors, farmers, and spinning mills. Linked with sweatshops, through the supply chain system, squeezed every cent of the profit of the cotton production area.
Foreign brands, relying on their own propaganda advantages, have entered the markets of developing countries and carried out brand terminal sales, occupying the high-end cotton product market for a long time. Through high brand premiums, they continue to maintain the dream of the cotton empire and exploit them. The wealth of developing countries.
Chinese people have always been very pragmatic. We have a good soil environment. Xinjiang long-staple cotton has become the world's top cotton. We open the door to do business and welcome foreign brands to enter.
But you can't pick up the bowl to eat, put down the bowl and scold your mother. We will never tolerate those behaviors that touch our bottom line. We will blame our Xinjiang cotton for no reason in an attempt to suppress our good situation.
China is the world’s largest consumer market. We have the confidence and strength to stop all conspiracies. We are not India. We must be resolute for all dishonest brands.We are not narrow-minded and extreme to fight and resist, but we are definitely not bullies.
Throughout the history of cotton development in the West, they have completely used plundering and occupation to establish an invisible cotton empire, and pour dirty water on us for no reason. We resolutely do not agree. Xinjiang cotton will not eat this.
(Author: Zhaolie Ming Chen)
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