Recent news from Cambodia make obvious how wrong our world goes. It’s not much better than Bangladesh where last year several clothing factories burned down, one building even collapsing and burying more than 1.000 sewers. Only because our capitalist world wants to spend the least money on everything to make the most money it can for the few richest who own those multi billion dollar companies, compromising on the most valuable of all, human lives.

This is so bad I could cry every time I think about this injustice.

I hate companies like H&M, Zara, Mango, GAP or Nike for that, more expensive brands even more, because they also rely on producing the cheapest possible way to be „competitive". I don’t buy the competition argument, it’s a big scandal of the stock corporation system. It’s incredible, incredibly inhuman!

Workers in Cambodia earn 100 USD per month. Actually before the last election garment workers earned only 61 USD, after the election in July 2013 the government has raised the wage to 85 USD per month. If the workers accept this, minimum wage for sewers is going to be increased to 100 USD from April 2014 on. The recent demonstrators are fighting for 160 USD, still way too little compared to the people who buy and wear their clothes. In Germany our social system is so great you even get around 1.000 USD per month when you are not working at all as unemployment benefit. When working you’re paid at least 2.000 - 2500 USD per month as an industrial worker, often much more.

What’s so bad about the situation in Cambodia is that the government actually is not interested in letting companies pay more to the workers, all the more the companies themselves. Each garment factory is run by high ranking officers. Most of them are relatives of Prime Minister Hun Sen. However, the bosses are often Chinese but Sen's cronies own a share in the business. So Hun Sen has to do everything to stop the workers from demonstrating so that his relatives and his subordinates won't lose profit. In addition rasising the minimum wage involves the risk that the clothing industry will switch business to another country that is cheaper. And it can because manufacturing needs only little know-how or highly sophisticated machinery, so the big brands can move a business involving hundreds of thousands of people simply to the next country with a couple of cheap industrial buildings and sewing machines.

The clothing industry is a good example of how bad capitalism has come. And it’s as corrupt as it gets. The worst, though, people are dying due to this terrible system.

I can remember a discussion on facebook in autumn 2012. I named and shamed Apple for selling premium products but producing them the worst possible way in China. I’m using Apple as well because they have great products but I hate them for their manufacturing strategy. You may remember Foxconn workers committing suicide in their despair, jumping from top of the factories. The problem is there’s no alternative in the tech world. All brands produce in China the same terrible way and we need a computer. At least with phones we can choose now, have a look at the Fairphone when considering a new phone. Or try to use your phone as long as you can stand or till it breaks. I used my last phone 7 years for example.

I don’t buy the argument we were bringing wealth to those countries by producing there at least. What a terrible price to pay with one's life for that. Our society is advanced enough to spare developing countries those fights for human rights. Making money out of this injustice is cynical.

What can we do? We need to make big companies rethink. How? We need to stop buying them. Only then will they change something.

I developed the NIKOLAIKIKI clothing collection a year ago to give it a try. Produce the best possible way and sell it to affordable prices. The NIKOLAIKIKI T-Shirts and Pants are organic cotton produced under the GOTS seal, a trustworthy certificate guaranteeing sound labour laws and working hours, industrial safety, reasonable wages to earn a living, no child labour, least chemicals possible, organic long-stranded cotton. From seed to shipping every step of the production chain is certified and carbon neutral. Even the feed for the manure producing animals for the organic fields in central Turkey is organic.

Quality is gorgeous, incomparable to H&M, and I will see if I can lower the prices even further in the future. Honestly you pay 45 € or more in shops in Berlin for this kind of quality.

But how does this help Cambodia? It helps a society to rethink and to change awareness. Only if we force big corporations to change by not buying their products anymore there is a chance for all of us and Cambodia as well to benefit. I see no other, better way to do it. Boycott is highly effective! Workers over there are desperate already. We need to act now!

Let’s do it!

KIKI