Comments on: When sugar was bitter

By: Curtis Bashkiharatee

Curtis Bashkiharatee — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:20:21 +0000

If I remember correctly, one of the major problems with that our nations formers faced was with each individual colony producing its own currency. This is why the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was formed, so that people could use a common currency. And if I’m remembering civics from high school right (it’s been around 6 years), the production of money became the sole responsibility of the federal government. What then made the sugar cane companies believe taht that had the authority to print “money.” This currency obviously wasn’t recognized by the govenrment, so in the government’s eyes were not these workers getting paid nothing for their labor.
Another thing that this reminded me of, as a get ready to make myself a snack, is the fact that many univeristies in the countries have meal plans with declining balances. Does this make the students “slaves” to consuming university food. Now that’s something I’d rather not think of.

By: Linh nguyen

Linh nguyen — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:58:16 +0000

sugarcane workers in the ealier decade as i know are either slaves, blacks,minorities or belong to lowest class of the society. back in the old days, the industry and economy were not really developed. the opportunity to get a job with fairly wages enough for people to spend for them, their families is very hard. those sugarcane workers had no choice but have to stick with and accept everything that their boss decided, either deal with it and survive or die.eventhough the working conditions were bad, wages were low, they really have no choice.Nowadays, the workers have many more opportunities to find a good job and they are also protected by certain acts or laws that secure them of unfairness.

By: Bethany Drapekin

Bethany Drapekin — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:43:26 +0000

The fieldworkers and the working class today are different in many ways. The fieldworkers were not allowed to save their money for things like we can. Cars, homes, education, and healthcare are a few of the things we as the working class can save or put money towards for the future. With the money (scrips) they made, they were allowed to take to the company store and get what they needed to live day to day. There was no option to put it away somewhere, it was worthless anywhere else. Now maybe we’re alike in the way that we accumulate debt, and our bankruptcy equals their leaving behind debt to relocate to another plantation, but like I said, we have more options with our money. Itâ€™s our choice where we spend it and what type of plan we have for it in the future. Today, the working class can work for their money and also make their money work for them. The fieldworkers didn’t have the latter option.

By: Zelma Smith

Zelma Smith — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:58:51 +0000

Reading these stories and comparing them to the stories that my grandparents told reveal to me that not only Economics have been around like forever, but also is instrumental to society today. The plantation owners not only monopolized the workers time, money, possessions, and minds, they also bonded them with chains in those same categories. Everything they worked, lived, and died for, revolved around the owners. From their hands, back to their hands. When you know better, you do better. So many people wanted to break away from the ties that bonded them to their employers, but felt hopeless. All they thought they owned or would own, still belonged to the owners.

By: Travis Verdin

Travis Verdin — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:39:17 +0000

How different are the fieldworkers to the working class of today? The fieldworkers were tied to the company stores by self-imposed debt that restricted them in their own minds from leaving. According to the Rev. Thomas Williams from the Daily Comet article some workers changed plantations leaving their debt behind. This would be the equivalent to modern day bankruptcy. The workers were not forced to use credit to fund their lifestyle. Like modern day worker using a credit card, if spending is not kept in check you will owe more than you can pay. Once you reach the “point of diminishing returns” it becomes a matter of pride. The determination to finish what you started because you said that it would be done. Modern day workers are conditioned to give up easily because someone else will wipe away your debt.

By: Bethany Drapekin

Bethany Drapekin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:00:34 +0000

The low and unfair wages combined with the restriction to the company stores were the cause of unhappy sugarcane workers. This could not happen today because people are smarter and there are many more options to making a living. The idea of monopoly is present in that the companies took advantage of their workers by paying them with money that could only be put right back unto the company itself. But because of limited transportation, possessing only skills for the sugarcane industry, and rent free living, workers were stuck in this economic trap set by the owners of the plantations. Lorna Bourg said it best when she said she “agrees with other critics of the system that company stores were the anchor for invisible chains that kept workers from making better lives for themselves.”

By: Bethany Drapekin

Bethany Drapekin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:50:59 +0000

The low and unfair wages and the restriction to company stores were indeed great ways for owners of the plantations to keep the workers right where they needed them and that was in the fields. Lorna Bourg said it best when she said she “agreed with other critics of the system that company stores were the anchor for invisible chains that kept workers from making better lives for themselves.” What better way was there to maximize profits and reduce operating costs than to pay your workers with money that could only be put right back into the company itself by issuing scrips. This is an idea of a monopoly and definitely takes advantage of the worker. Of course today this could be almost impossible to run; people are smarter and have many more options to make a living. But during the time these stories took place, workers had limited transportation and skills for the sugarcane industry only. And they didn’t have to pay rent because they were allowed to live on the plantations themselves. Thats why it was hard to escape this type of economic trap that was placed on the workers of sugarcane industry.