Trouble In Taiwan

Taiwan has a problem. The United States is no stranger to it either. It's much more pervasive, much more deeply entrenched in the every day workplace environment. The job market is very competitive there thanks mostly to demand here, so any edge one can gain ends in a small percentage of extra income...but at what cost?
Heroin in Taiwan is everywhere. Laden with caffeine and formed into small, round, chocolate colored pills it's "everyman's performance enhancer." It keeps the workforce busy for longer shifts. It makes them more alert while still welding bike frames up after 16 hours on the factory floor. Like many professional athletes who need to up their game, the workforce of Taiwan has become alarmingly hooked on these pills. An enormous percentage of that workforce is in the bicycle industry. Welding aluminum and steel frames, painting, machining bearing races and swing arm parts. The only thing I haven't been able to find out is the injury rate in the wrokplace. Those statistics are probably not written down, and would be very difficult to access even if they were.
The weight of the drug use is also producing a spike in "junky crime." These crimes are almost always violent, and brought on by the dementia of the drug, or the withdrawals from the lack of it. Recent years have produced more televised hostage situations in the streets of Taiwan than ever before, and they almost always lead to the death of the hostage taker. The police or the angry mob will take him out while the heroin gets credit for the kill. The global market has global impact, an our consummate consumption keeps these nations dealing with the aftermath. We have "Fair Trade" coffee. Will it soon be time for "Fair Trade" bicycles? Will you pay for them if that time comes? The Taiwan External Trade Developement Council began performing inspections of 86,000 KNOWN factories on June
1st of this year, to run through July 15th. I wonder how many UNKNOWN factories will get left alone?




Me before my heroine/caffeine pills







Me AFTER my heroine/caffeine pills...