Multinational corporations are more harmful than beneficial to developing countries

Multinational corporations are large companies that expand their businesses to other countries through globalization. Many American companies have moved their factories to countries with a less developed economy and political system. The American dream has multiplied multinational corporations so that we are able to take advantage of cheap consumerist products for cheap labor in order to achieve our dreams of having a big house, fancy car, and new technologies that the economic market has to offer. The whole world is interconnected by the global trading system.

These corporations have a strong hold on the local media and influence a consumerist ideology on the people through the use of commercialization. The consumerist to presume a higher standard of living the cost must buy goods that are mass produced in other countries through cheap labor. Wal-mart products are mass produced in China, and they are shipped over to the United States to be sold to middle class families. Multinational corporations have a history of taking control or having some power in the political system because they have so much investment in the country.

Many of these corporations take advantage of the political system because they have such a strong impact on the economy it would be devastating to the country if a corporation decided to remove its large investment from the country’s economy. The companies can just pay off government officials to protect their company from being shut down. The government is then compelled to accommodate the companies by modify their labor and environmental policies. Powerful business owners are not as heavily punished; they can just use their money or power of their company to avoid jail time for any crimes they committed. Billions of dollars are stolen each year by corporations through tax evasion from developing countries. Many CEOs and other employees of multinational corporations are guilty of crimes such as fraud and tax evasion that are overlooked because they can use their powerful position and money to avoid any serious punishment.

Multinational corporations cheat developing countries from so much money that could have helped improve the lives of many citizens by investing it in the healthcare and education system. Instead the citizens of the developing countries have to pay money out of their own pockets to compensate for the greediness of the CEOs of these large corporate empires. Multinational corporations privatize resources such as water and oil, and they sell it back to the people for a highly taxes amount.These invading companies exploit developing countries by keeping the high poverty level at a stance by paying laborers very little. The normal factory worker will probably never get a chance at moving up the social ladder and becoming a manager.

Many people in developing countries never get a chance to receive a proper education because they are forced to go to work in these factories at an early age so that they could use their wages to help support their family. In many countries the child labor laws are not very strict. Corporations exploit these weak child labor policies. Child labor means that companies can pay these younger employees even less than the bare minimum that they pay adults. Corporations are also able to take advantage of the labor laws in other countries. They are not forced to pay people overtime or give them vacation hours. These corporations don’t offer any medical benefits or paid for taking time off if a person gets hurt on the job and is unable to work. In developing countries some people these factories provide living accommodations such as dormitories, and the people have follow curfews and others rules enforced by the dean. Most people are forced to work 10 hours a day and about 60 hours a week.

The environmental impact that these large corporations have is a big negative downside to the people living in developing countries. The development of industries creates large amounts of pollution that the local people are faced to deal with. Large oil corporations such as Shell and Enron have had major oil pipes burst that have ruined the land and water of the people living in the area. The oil spills have traveled through the waters, and many animals and people have died because of lack of clean water. Many people have suffered from diseases because of the lack of clean water. The corporations only had to pay a small price for the damages that their company caused. The people living in the area are forced to suffer living with the damages to their ecosystem.