How Capitalism Will Give Your Kids Lead Poisoning
Posted by
Kevin
So Illinois finds a toy that has too much lead in it and informs the company, Mattel in this case, and Mattel takes it off the market. In Illinois, and only in Illinois:
Dozens of members of Congress sent a letter Tuesday to the chief executive of Mattel, accusing the company of not living up to its promise to keep lead-tainted toys out of children’s hands.
The letter was prompted by Mattel’s decision not to issue a nationwide recall of a blood-pressure cuff in a toy medical kit sold under the Fisher-Price brand. The legislators said they were disturbed by the company’s “lack of action.” Lead was found in a plastic part of the toy, and current federal laws ban lead only in paint on toys. Lawmakers are considering a law to limit lead in all material in toys.
… Consumer Reports magazine discovered lead in the armband of the toy blood-pressure cuff in November and notified the attorney general in Illinois, where there are stricter lead standards, including limits in plastic. State officials found that the cuffs contained 4,500 to 5,900 parts per million of lead, roughly eight times the federal limit for lead in paint.
In December, Mattel recalled the toy in Illinois and began accepting it back from any retailer or customer nationwide who called a toll-free number.
But it did not recall the toy nationwide, nor did it widely publicize the problem as would have been required in a national recall. The company’s recall page on its Web site does not include information about the toy.
I have two questions. First, does anyone believe that Mattel is not recalling these toys for any other reason that it would cost the money? Second, why is the CEO of Mattel not in jail? They have been told that the toys contain more than eight times the federal levels of lead, have been forced to remove the toy from one state and yet they still refuse to recall the toy nationwide. Since they can make more money poisoning children than saving them, the toy stays on the shelf. This CEO is scum, pure and plain and simple, and in a decent society he would be facing poisoning charges. In our society, Congress has to beg him to stop poisoning children.
Link via Consumerist.
where was the lead actually introduced into toys? Seems socialism will poison your kids too. In general, compare safety in China and US. Clearly socialism will kill you quicker than capitalism.
Comment 2/2/2008
Ted, are you actually counting China a socialist?? They claim to be communist and don’t even really get that right, but they’re in no way, shape, or form socialist.
Comment 2/2/2008
Ted
Man, if you think China is socialists…
I have no idea why you this seems to offend you so, but capitalism priileges making money over everything, and there hve been plenty of people who have bent to that imperative. This is one more example.
Comment 2/2/2008
Also, the CEO isn’t in jail (or on trial to be sentences to such) because no DA has noticed and decided that lead poisoning is reckless endargerment rather than just negligence.
Mind you, a negligence suit would be pretty damned easy to win, and would allow of huge fines rather than jail, which’d probably be more effective.
Comment 2/2/2008
Within this context, I am not interested with the political aspects, and the economy of China is in no way actually run by the workers, so I chose a term that at least to me works best in juxtoposition to capitalism.
I find Kevin’s repeated use of this theme to be childish in the extreme. Especially when no alternative is offered for comparison. Frankly, it strikes me as a tactic Fred/Morris would use.
Comment 2/2/2008
Ted
Make an argument. Where, precisely, am I wrong? Why is this not an example fo a CEO giving in to the pressure to produce quarterly results? And why is that pressure not a defining feature of capitalism? Every single time I point out the failures of capitalism you come storming into the thread attacking me personally, tossing insults around and accusing me of bad faith. And yet you have never dealt with the substance of the critique.
The idea that someone could call China a socialist economy at this point in history strains credibility. It is largely capitalist in nature, with some legcy corruption as a result of its Communist past and authoritarian present. But it is largely a market economy.
Comment 2/3/2008
storming in, tossing insults around, attacking you…
pretty thin skin for one who dabbles in a style as incendiary as yours.
I find these pieces as convincing and constructive as Rush’s antidotes about government failures and why they prove government is evil nd should be minimized. Of course he at least offers an alternative.
Comment 2/3/2008
Ted
Ah, yes, I am incendiary for reporting the news and using commonsense words to describe a man who puts profit over the health of children. I am sorry if the word scum offends your sensibilities (though one whose sole response to posts like these is name calling shouldn’t be too quick to talk about incendiary style) but the man is scum whether we say so or not. Might was well says so. It is not civility to cover up, with soft words and double speak, the despicable behavior of a man who allows lead to continue to poison children when he could stop it, and it is not incendiary to state plainly the moral character of such a man.
And you haven’t answered my question, Ted: where am I wrong? Did the person not do what he is accused of doing? Does or does not modern capitalism create a set of incentives that place profit above all else? And is there or is there not a history of companies bowing to those incentives and putting lives at risk?
And as for alternatives, if I am critiquing the incentives, then its pretty clear that the incentives need to be changed. And if I am suggesting, in every single post a specific government action to correct those incentives, the alternative is pretty clear, don’t you think? I am sorry of it doesn’t lend itself to an easily pigeon-holeable name, but I think the point is pretty clear.
Comment 2/3/2008
forget it. I’m still not accepting of the blogging style, that’s all. Suffice it to say a serious publication would never publish what you wrote as responsible “reporting”.
Comment 2/3/2008
Ted
Its not reporting, its opinion. But that doesn’t mean that I have the facts wrong, and it doesn;t mean I am wrong about the morality of the decision.
Comment 2/3/2008
I don’t dispute that, nor did I above. I just think you overplay it when you condemn all of capitalism because of it. That approach can be used to discredit virtually anything or anyone. It is typically avoided by most folks. Obviously you are free to operate at that level if you so choose, as I am free to storm in and point out what you are doing.
Perhaps a more constructive approach would be to offer an alternative that would solve the problem.
Comment 2/3/2008
Well, Kevin, I have to say, you are a big meany.
And if you don’t start saying nasty things about CEOs, I’m telling Mom!
Comment 2/3/2008
So Mattel goes above and beyond what they are required to do, but it isn’t enough because they didn’t do a full national recall. I don’t see how that is capitalism being a problem. Using the reasoning you cited,(it’s illegal in Illinois which has the strictest standards so that is the standard Mattel should use nation-wide), every vehicle in the US that doesn’t adhere to the California codes should be removed from the market. And I’m sure there are many other times when things are illegal or restricted in one state but legal or allowed everywhere else. This is not a simple issue of greed as you are suggesting.
Comment 2/4/2008