CroissantWynnFilms

I would like to present to the blog one of my friends work. His name is Christian James Nguyen. What I enjoy the most out of Christian’s work is his use of landscape as well as color grading. His photography embeds, and pushes warmth into my soul and contracts emotions through his use of colors, creating something almost of a dreamscape-esque feeling. His photos feel nostalgic to me almost, but also leave me with a sense of surreality and understanding.

I asked him to share some information with me about his work as well:

Hey! My name is Christian, better known fully as Christian James Nguyen or croissantwynnfilm; I’m an author, photographer, and filmmaker. After initially dropping out of both uni and community college because of the rigid learning systems, I debuted my first photo-narrative book, “Examinations.” Included here are just a few photos from that book and a few from my latest book, “Messages From The All-Knowing Soul.”

At my young but technically adult age (21), I, like many others in my demographic, feel quite lost in my life; even right now, where I feel like I’ve forged a path, everything still feels muddy and unclear at times. My main goal in photography is to magnify small things and make them feel larger than life through abstract composition — it’s a way to try and portray the great scale of life and show how equally daunting and beautiful life can be. Both the saturated colors (and sometimes lack thereof) and my writing that coincides with the photos aid in that but I work mostly through composition first; everything else comes later.

The few I’ve chosen to showcase for you here are just a few I’ve been thinking about and would like to share with you.

 

How Trumps proposed tariffs will affect the fashion industry, and overall affect people in America.

Tariffs. On January 20th, one of the biggest moments in American history will happen. The presidential elect Donald Trump will assume office and enter the Whitehouse. One of his biggest policies he will try to implace are countless tariffs on countries who are vital for the fashion supply chain, as well as other things that are more important. Such as our food supply chain, automotive supply chain, medical supply chain, et cetera. But this is an article relating to the fashion industry. 

First things first. What is a tariff? A tariff is a tax that is placed upon imported goods and services. For example, clothing. Tariffs are mainly used as a tool which countries use to influence other countries and their decisions when it comes to what they do to the country that imposes these tariffs. These tariffs are then paid by the importer who brings in the goods from the exporting country. These costs that the importer has to use to pay off the tariff then are included when the customer is shopping for the item. This makes it so that the customer actually pays more when it comes to purchasing goods from countries who export with tariffs imposed on them. Which is what this article will be about. Let’s name some of the biggest countries that I will be talking about that are in close relation to the garment industry/fashion industry. Namely China. China has been the leading trading partner with the US ever since 1979 with the US and China finally opening relationships when it comes to trade. Now, the US trades over $750 Billion dollars annually with China. In May of 2021 China accounted for just over 13% of US Imports. This was significantly lower as just five years beforehand China’s reach into the United States’ basket of importing goods was just slightly above 20%. The two countries who leapt over China in 2021 were Canada with 15% and Mexico with 16% of America’s imports being from both of its neighbors. The two that are more closely tied to the garment and fashion industry are China and Mexico of course. Recently Trump proposed a 25% increase on all goods that come across America’s southern border from Mexico. This tariff could increase the cost of goods that are manufactured in Mexico. And who knows what will happen. Will manufacturing of clothing come back to the United States? That is what Trump thinks will happen. Per CBS News, Trump believes that companies that do not want to pay for these overbearing tariffs will come to the United States, “right away.” Trump also has imposed tariffs beforehand, and during that time jobs actually dropped inside of the US. “This could have been for other reasons though as well,” says CBS News. But I would think that some of the job loss has been from the tariffs that the companies have to pay. When it comes to importing raw materials, as well as shipping costs across the US, as well as then exporting the finished product to other countries who impose counter tariffs on the US. It is just a cycle of more money being paid, and more money going to the government, and not to the workers, and it will just raise costs in general. Steve Madden has actually even said that if Trump proposes tariffs on China the company will start manufacturing more in Vietnam and Cambodia. The countries that import the most textiles to the US are China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, and then Mexico. Who knows what other countries he might try to place import tariffs on. Trump believes that through tariffs the tax cuts can be balanced and bring money into the US that way. As Goldman Sachs analyzed and calculated that every year a 25% tax on Canada and Mexico and a raised 10% tariff on Canada would bring in 300 billion dollars per year to the US government. Not to the average citizen of the United States. Who knows what then Trump will use that money for. Defense? Education? The “Border Crisis”? I have no clue. I just hope that it is used to benefit the American people as we will be paying more for things that come from these countries.

Let’s also talk about deportation for a second. Especially in the agricultural sector of America. From Newsweek, 50 percent of all agriculture workers inside of the US are illegal immigrants. These workers that work for a fair wage and do work that is needed to keep America running are threatened by the new president elect that their jobs might get taken, and that they will be sent back to the countries that they are from. Who will replace these jobs? Whoever will come in and work in these fields? If we get foreign agricultural exports, who will be sending us more food? Mexico? Canada? China? Brazil? All of these countries that are threatened by Trump and his administration on tariffs, who knows what they will do in return. Canada has already threatened to take away 1.8 million people’s power in the northern part of America if Trump imposes tariffs on them. Who knows what will happen. 

Now other tariffs that might be imposed. Trump has told the BRICS group that if they threaten to diminish the US Dollar, or replace the US dollar with a new currency, that he will impose a 100% tariff to all nations. These nations that are the most major and are in the name are, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. As well as smaller members that are Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. With over 50 more countries wanting to join in the future. The BRICS group was made to combat the American Dollar and its influence using real materials instead such as gold and silver. With these nations also being big manufacturers of garments. I will talk about India. India is a country that Trump does not have a good relationship with. In 2019 India was removed from the Generalized System of Preferences. Thus, taking the country out of the label of a least developed country. Taking over $5.7 billion of duty-free imports away from India. These imports which bolstered the Indian economy and helped them develop are now gone. Although Trump does have a good relationship with India, that does not mean that he would not change his mind at any given moment. This group that is BRICS could stand as a roadblock to the American dollar’s influence. Although the US dollar already has a fair amount of sway in India, Trump could see anything as a microaggression and essentially make all of the exports from India have a heightened cost. The main things that India exports to the US are textiles, pharmaceuticals and also IT Services. With this being said, who knows what will happen as well to all of the other states that also import goods to the United States. Specifically raw goods and things like that. I guess we will see in the next year how everything turns out. 

In conclusion, the cost of our goods will go up. Side tangent, Trump actually ran on cutting down the prices of everything. A big part of his campaign was literally getting items that were necessities for everyday Americans down. But recently he came out and said in an interview with Times Magazine after being named the person of the year that bringing down groceries will be a “hard task.” This is after he literally RAN on the fact that he will bring down groceries. As Mexico and Canada are a big importer of our foreign agricultural goods as well as China. Even Brazil has a big impact on the meat industry, of which is part of BRICS. I digress, but a button that is made in China that you will use for your fashion design project will go up from 20 cents to 22 cents. That does not seem like a lot, but the price will go up. The fabric that is made in China, the shirt made in Mexico, all of it will go up in price. Your goods will cost more, the price will rise, and you will be paying more. Trump will not cut the lower and middle classes taxes. As seen in his first time as president he did not do that the first time. He cut taxes across every income level, but the tax bracket that was most affected was the upper-class bracket. $578,000 and above. Making these people essentially pay less money than before, unbalancing the scale. Adding $2.5 TRILLION dollars into our debt out of his 8.6 TRILLION that he added in his four-year term. Who knows where the money that is raised from the people who pay for these goods that have been tariffed, and that will be paid to the government will go to. I believe that most likely the money will be used to fund companies that do research that are held by the billionaires of America who support Trump. Like Elon Musk and SpaceX or Vivek Ramaswamy’s pharmaceutical company.  This should not be happening to our country. I love living in America and having the freedom to write about what I love and explain my thoughts. But I think that in the next year, I could possibly be censored. I know that this to some people might not be possible but just as ABC just paid Trump 15 million dollars for defamation, when FOX has done things even worse, or JD Vance literally creating lies about Haitian people. This man, who looks up to the leaders of North Korea, Hungary, and other nations now has the biggest job in the world. The biggest economy, the most influential, most powerful, and most risky job that anyone can have. He is the man that will determine the outcome for the world in the next four years. We gave it to an old man who is a billionaire. I wish the best for my fellow Americans and remember that everyone lives once.  

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/donald-trump-tarrif-india-exclude-china-mexico-canda-9690534/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tariffs-mexico-canada-china-truth-social/ 

https://www.newsweek.com/undocumented-farm-workers-wedge-between-republicans-1799242

Robin Reimann Miscellaneous Photo Collection Part 1

 Robin is a friend of mine that I met after looking through the likes of one of my favorite film makers SJ Ramir. The second I saw his account I followed him and talked to him. He is someone that ever since I first met, I have always had fun talking to. He creates amazing photography and even makes a bit of music as well. I will link his account here. He is also working on a magazine of his own called Pandora Magazine which I will also link as well. Please enjoy this amazing photography.

Also his favorite pie is cheesecake. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinreimann.art/ 

Magazine: https://www.instagram.com/pandora.magazine/

Galliano's exit from Maison Margiela: What does this mean for the industry and for the brand?

After 10 years of serving as the creative director at Maison Margiela the renowned designer, John Galliano, left the house of Maison Margiela. But what does this mean for the industry?

The exit of John Galliano from Maison Margiela was a huge hit to the fashion industry. The industry was dwindling from its past life already as Dries van Noten left his own brand after 38 years of serving the industry and proving that he, himself, is a legendary designer. Hedi leaving YSL, Michelle leaving Gucci has already left a sour taste in my mouth, and now Galliano who has also had a massive impact on the industry, has now left Margiela. The industry, to me, is slowly falling apart. This exit by Galliano, one of the biggest designers, from one of the biggest houses in the entire world, although I hate to say it, brought in so much money for the brand through mass marketing, and campaigning is finally gone. I really do wonder where the brand is going to go now. I respect Galliano and his decision to leave. I just hope that he takes a break for a while and lives the rest of his life in a grand house in rural France. With that being said, the house of Margiela will fall apart. It will become the next McQueen, Balenciaga, and will eventually fully lose all of the merit behind the brand. The pedigree that has been established at Margiela, in recent years, has disappeared to me. Mass marketing tactics, the hype behind the tabi, the designs that are overall unappealing, especially the tabi silhouettes, and just in general the fascination by Margiela that comes from people who buy into the brand simply because it is hype and has trendy design. It has just gotten too much. The house that was once a statement against so many different ideas and techniques, now boiled down to a mass fund for the abundant. There is just nothing special about Margiela anymore. The raw anti fashion, grotesque absurd but yet understandable appeal. The design that pushed fashion norms. Of course those challenges that challenged norms are now the norms, the Margiela uniform is now so bland. I am rarely jubilant when I see a new season. There are very few seasons that I enjoyed under his tenure. The hype was there, but I was not. The designs are overhyped, overplayed, and revitalized and seen as new every season when that is just not the case. The tabi was the thing that destroyed me the most. Seeing takes on the tabi that are just ugly. The tabi rain boot? What the fuck was that? Even independent designers on the tabi like the tabi Timberland? What the actual fuck? The only good tabi is the painted tabi, and the pump. That is it. With Galliano being gone all I can see is more of this mass marketing scaling tactics as well as more infuriation from my side. A brand should end the second its main designer leaves. That is how every brand should be. Ann has been tainted, Dries I hope will not be tainted, when Yohji dies I hope it will not be tainted either although I think it is pretty easy to create a Yohji Yamamoto collection, but naturally there will be something missing. The only exception that I can see could be Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garcons as she has fostered designers that are similar to her under her own brand. But even then she is so special and unique that no one can understand her. Not Noir, not Tao, not Junya, What Margiela needs more than anything is new life. A new body. A young body that will helm the house with pride and actual justice. Not just another famous designer that will be a suck up. A rebel who is against everything. Even Rosso himself. But that will never happen. Rosso will never appoint someone who will not make him sales. The designer that comes in will also need an ambitious team. A team that also has a love for the industry and a love for the house of Maison Martin Margiela. Not Maison Margiela. I have no clue who that person could be. If it is inside of the house that could be perfect, but Rosso should not pull an Antonioli, find an outside designer, bring them in, and they are just nothing to what Margiela is. Whether that's Martin Margiela, or Galliano’s Margiela. There cannot be a designer that destroys the brand even further and makes it even more appalling. With all of this in mind, I wish the best for everyone who likes Maison Margiela and supports the brand as you might not enjoy what you are going to get coming up. So go to the sample sale right now if you can, get your cheap Margiela, and get your Don Julios and pour up.

How Bangladesh through corruption and dishonest leaders globalized and became one of the biggest exporters of garments in the world.

I wrote this paper for my school project. I was supposed to do something in regard to the textile industry as that is what ties into my major, but I kind of sidetracked and went on a rant about the state of the Bengali people. Of course, I was not able to fully flesh out the entire history and learn everything abuot the complex history of the region, but I was able to grasp it more than I was able to before. This is not even a paper to be honest it is a slop of words that I put on a document and called it a day. I could have for sure done better, but I think that it is important to share this information as it does come into contact with the fashion industry, as well as geopolitical events which I might even start talking about more on this blog. Thank you for reading in advance - Abraxas. 

Also please let me know if I missed any information. I would actually like it refine this topic even further as I know I can do better and make my writing not as first person and biased. 

 How Bangladesh through corruption and dishonest leaders globalized and became one of the biggest exporters of garments in the world. 

Bangladesh is a country that has had some of the most interesting history to me in the past 50 years- even in the last century. A history that has been riddled with corruption, bribes, geopolitical turmoil, murdering, torturing, and just an overall poor geography in the region. This paper will look into and target the problems that has been with Bangladesh in the past, how with the recent flip of leadership through a student revolution has changed the country into maybe a better direction, and then a look into the future to see how Bangladesh can become a country that is literally not in the bottom of the barrel when it comes to countries across the globe. First I will be explaining some of the key points in Bengali history that preceded and then also propelled Bengali independence. Then I will take the paper through the actions that happened after East Pakistan became Bangladesh. After that I will then touch on the current state that Bangladesh is in, and how Bangladesh can possibly move forward even after it has been through over fifty years of straight and horrific warfare, corruption, and overall poor global leadership that has plagued the country and has taken billions of dollars away from its people through schemes that reach an international level, and also a local level as well.

To start off with the history of Bangladesh I want to touch on three different events that lead to the independence of Bangladesh, then called at the time from 1947-1971, East Pakistan. The first event being the formation of the Awami Muslim League (Four Years later their named changed to the Awami League) and then later on declaring independence as well, the horrific acts that occurred during Operation Searchlight which was spearheaded by the West Pakistanis to crack down on the separatist idea of a separate Bengali state from West Pakistan killing hundreds of thousands of people as well as displacing millions more. Then finally what I think is not really talked about enough is the Bhola Cyclone of 1970 which wiped out thousands of homes, killed 300,000-500,000 people, and cost millions of dollars in today’s money (then 86.4 million dollars). All of these events accumulated and created hatred and disgust within the borders of East Pakistan which then furthered the idea of independence. 

Firstly, the Awami League is the nation's longest running political party. The party has been in Bangladesh since June of 1949. The political party has been the one the party that has brought the idea of a separatist state to the people of Bangladesh, and was the first Bangladeshi party to be elected by the people in mass in 1970 when Pakistan held their first open elections ever.(Naeem) Which accumulated into the Awami League being the overwhelming party during this race. With 151 seats needed for majority, and 162 seats being in East Pakistan, and 138 seats being in West Pakistan, with 13 extra seats for women, 7 being in East Pakistan, and 6 being in West Pakistan, the East Pakistanis showed out and 160 out of 162 of the seats were won by the Awami league, with also all 7 of the seats meant for women also won entirely by the Awami League as well. (“Islamic Pakistan”) This sparked outrage, and as nationalism has been brewing in Bangladesh for quite a long time, it was going to be sooner rather than later that an independence movement would actually form and be real. So, on March 7th of 1971 the Sheikh at the time, Mujibur Rahman, also known as Sheikh Mujib, gave the speech that all Bengalis wanted to hear at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka. Over one million people attended this event. The speech outlined that the time ahead after the speech will be a time of death, and that “every house will turn into a fortress.” What preceded afterwards was only something that can come out of a nightmare as West Pakistan were building up their army to thwart the movement of independence in East Pakistan, and attack them in an operation called Operation Searchlight which started the Bengali Liberation War 18 days after the speech occurred. 

Operation Searchlight was not even an operation, it was more so of a blatant desire by the Western Pakistanis to kill Eastern Pakistanis now Bengalis and to stop them from creating their own country and separating from the western part of the country. What happened during this time is too much to even write about. There was the killing of over two hundred intellectuals which was carried out by the right wing group from West Pakistan the Al-Badr group. These intellectuals consisted of engineers, professors, journalists, and physicians who were abducted from their homes by the West Pakistani army, and then murdered later after being tortured by the Al-Badr group (AP Archive; GVS NEWS). Hundreds of skirmishes, India invading Bangladesh to liberate them from Western Pakistan, India mistakenly destroying two Bengali ships in an air raid, Operation Jackpot which was a naval operation by the Bengalis to disrupt the Pakistanis and to take out their supply chain, inside of Bangladesh and sabotage their military capacity, the Jinjira Genocide, systematic genocidal rape by the Pakistanis (“Operation Jackpot - Banglapedia”). Operation Searchlight caused so much chaos in the region, and ultimately killed 26,000 people, but also lead to the rapes, and torturing of hundreds of thousands more. To me this event was key because it essentially destroyed the country even further. The operation also killed the future leaders of Bangladesh as well when they killed students in Dhaka, and hundreds of intellectuals as well (AP Archive; GVS NEWS).  I will note that what I am about to talk about as well, to me was possibly the biggest reason, and part of the overarching chaos in the region as well that probably lead to hatred in the Bengali people for the Pakistanis as well as completely destroying parts of the country in its wake. This natural disaster is called the Bhola Cyclone.

The Bhola Cyclone is the deadliest cyclone ever. It is regarded as the Great Cyclone of 1970 to some people, and it killed 300,000-500,000 Bengalis. This disaster was something of a nightmare. To keep in mind, the nation of Bangladesh is not that big (See Fig. 1). The majority of the nation also resides near the coast as well, which is extremely terrible for tropical storms. In 1970, the population per km2 in Bangladesh was also 467.78. Which is extremely high. Most of which live in Dhaka, but still Dhaka only reaches a measly 60 meters above sea level (See Fig. 2). With 57 rivers that run through Bangladesh, this could only end in disaster. But the thing is, this all could have actually been somewhat preventable. This cyclone which started on November 8th in 1970 was first detected. The days that followed the small insignificant storm that was characterized as a tropical storm, then became a cyclone. Many people did not see this storm as a threat as many people have been through tropical storms, but there was key information that was withheld from the Eastern Pakistanis. The Eastern Pakistanis did not even know that there was a storm in the Bay of Bengal. This was because East Pakistan did not have the radar systems, and the ability to see these storms happen as they were so underdeveloped and underfunded due to the way that they were marginalized by their western counterparts the West Pakistanis. Who almost used East Pakistan like a colony. Stripping their land of their natural resources, and also brutalizing them almost everyday. (“EAST PAKISTAN: AN INDEPENDENT NATION? | CIA FOIA (Foia.cia.gov)”) As if the region had any to begin with anyways. It was easy for West Pakistan because East Pakistan was not violent, they only wanted to win democratically. This was through the Awami League that prided themselves on the idea of democracy and not martial law and violence. That day did come eventually in 1970 but I talked about that before. Now I will digress and go back into the main point of why the Bhola Cyclone, in my eyes, was a key factor to Bengali independence. The cyclone was actually detected by India right as it occurred. This was at a time where India and greater Pakistan were not on the best of terms. Maybe that is why India did not tell East Pakistan about the cyclone that was going to hit land. But there was more to that too. The greater region of Pakistan, the Western Pakistanis did know about the storm as well. So on the day that the cyclone was supposed to hit, the meteorologist team sent out reports on the radio to evacuate. But the thing was that the scales in East and West Pakistan were not the same. In East Pakistan they still used a system which went up to 10 as the worst storm that can occur. Whereas the information that was being sent to East Pakistan from West Pakistan used a scale that went up to 4. This was a huge mistake when it came to communication. So the Eastern Pakistanis brushed off the idea of a scale of 4 as something that they can just tough out and wait. This storm then killed over 300,000 Eastern Pakistanis. This was also due to the fact that there was a full moon that night too. But the thing that really was the most important is that the dictator in West Pakistan knew about the storm entirely. Yahya Khan, the man who was in charge, did not send any notice or aid to the people of East Pakistan because of the election that was going to happen in the following months. He did this because he knew that the people of East Pakistan would not vote for him. So he let the cyclone hit. This then sparked even further resentment towards the government of West Pakistan and then brought the people of East Pakistan together to vote him out during the election winning 160 out of 162 seats, and then all of the women's seats for the Awami League. (https://www.facebook.com/nzsurvivorstore; Schanberg; Spds)

Which then sparked Operation Searchlight, and then the Bengali Liberation War shortly after. Now, all of this then brings all of the three key events back into full circle of the events that I find were key in the independence of Bangladesh.

What happened after Bangladesh gained independence is something that needs to be talked about as well. The leader that preceded the Bengali Liberation War at the time was Sheikh Mujibur Rahmed. Mujib was seen as a great leader, he led the country for around 4 years until he was killed in a coup. There are a lot of reasons why people liked him, but he was also pretty authoritarian. He ended the parliament system within Bangladesh, and then started a one party ruling under him. But after the war, East Pakistan became Bangladesh, and the country needed to grow its economy. The country also needed to rebuild and resolve itself after years of tyranny and devastation. So, the country looked towards the garment industry. The country was prime real estate. Labor was cheap, and investment was easy. Before Bangladesh was a country, the GDP for the country was at a rate of .7% annually when they were still part of greater Pakistan. This is such a small creep for a country that has such a big population, and so many people to feed as well. The GDP per capita was only around $133 (“Bangladesh GDP per Capita 1960-2024”). After Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, and after the bloody Bengali Liberation War of 1971, the country looked towards furthering their economy. This included the agriculture sector, and the garment industry. Although, this did come with countless acts of corruption. Corruption that started at the top level, and only hurt the people below it. Something that a lot of people remember is the Rana Plaza disaster that killed over 1,100 people. But there are far more disasters that have occurred within Bangladesh's borders that could have been prevented if, and only if, the government was not as corrupt. I will list some key ways that Bangladesh has been corrupted out of its mind which has led it to be the 184th ranked country out of 187 by the Transparency International Corruptions Index from 2000-2009. (Luxeon) With it now being 149th out of 180. Firstly, countless coups, there have been at least 29 coups since the induction of Bangladesh as a nation. (Jazib) A man named PK Halder embezzled over 800 million dollars through certain government funds as well as through the Padma bridge. I can not really go into detail about him as that would require so much time.(Khan) The building of the Padma Bridge which PK was also a part of (“World Bank Cancels Bangladesh Bridge Loan over Corruption”), the 2011 Bangladesh Share Market Scam, state sponsored groups such as the Rapid Action Battalion being used to kill political opponents and also torture them as well. Same with the DGFI. Both of whom also killed civilians as well as teachers and journalists who do not write good stuff about Bangladesh. Although these groups are supposed to protect the Bengali people, and make sure law and order is upheld, they are more than likely to be the groups will torture and kill people for being against the government in any way (De). With all of this on the table, there is still so much more that I would need to cover and talk about, as well as research when it comes to the actual numbers of dollars that has been starved from the Bengali people that could have helped build the country rather than defund, and destabilize it. 

Back to the garment industry, the garment industry essentially brought Bangladesh out of its state of doom and demise. As I said before Bangladesh has prime real estate for the garment industry. The labor is cheap, there are many rivers and many ports which are easy to export goods from, and the government is corrupt. But this is also counteracted by the amount of foreign investment that is held at a high level at the governmental scale, with incentives such as tax breaks, and duty free import of machinery that helps create clothing as well and also trade agreements that bolster the economy and as well as getting more investors involved with the Bengali government. In 1972 the GDP of Bangladesh was around $6.29 Billion and now in 2021 with a GDP of $368 Billion, with exports of ready made garments being around $46 billion dollars (Latifee). With Bangladesh also being extremely flexible in the way that the garment industry is changing, adapting and doing sustainable things such as using less water, using recyclable materials, and producing less waste. But is this because of Bangladesh, or is it because of the consumer pushing for this idea of sustainability? Anyways there is an effort being made to change the world through sustainability (Uddin). The industry has also created millions of jobs, and has taken many people out of poverty. Even though the poverty rate is still at a high 18.1% it is way better than what it was in 1970 which was literally above 95%. There is not even a scale before 1980 on MacroTrends.net. (“Bangladesh Poverty Rate 1960-2024”) Even with this, there are so many things that Bangladesh has given up and has done to fuel this rapid growth of industrialization. With what I said about corruption, as well as the billions of dollars that were defrauded that could have gone to infrastructure, agriculture, and health for the people. This is still pretty good in terms of the development of the country. But that of course came with an impact. The lives of many, the rights and the voices of many, and the corruption of millions as well. As said before the man PK Halder has a lot to do with this defrauding, as well as the countless Prime Ministers that have been a part of the corruption as well. As the garment industry is so vital to the economy of Bangladesh the recent Sheikh Hasina has even told the garment workers to return back to their jobs even though they are being essentially strangled and ringed out like a wet rag with hours inside of a garment factory being up to eleven hours of pure labor. Even though this is needed for the economy of Bangladesh, it still impacts the people of Bangladesh as well, and puts a toll on mental and physical health. There has been recent pushes into the safety of workers though recently with governmental and foreign agencies calling for the garment workers to be treated with more respect as well as given better and fairer wages. But also it is hard to do that as the factories that make these clothes are not creating their own clothes. The factories are just a means for companies who produce clothes to make clothing. If a company can go somewhere for cheaper, and make the same quality of clothing, they will do that. That is a huge problem when it comes to apparel manufacturing anyways that is not meant for this paper either. I digress, but as the nation got bigger, and the need for clothing across the globe became even larger, the country has become the second largest exporter of clothing in the world. This also has a lot to do with fast fashion, and the grievous nature of the bourgeois class that wants to fit into the upper class with the idea of tossing away perfectly fine clothing to seem popular and to also win the hearts of many through trends and styles. Also because of this excitement of the fast fashion industry and that factories will work for really anyone, the economy boomed even further and brought more jobs into the fray. But then again, there was corruption in the infrastructure that was built, and the wages that were given to the workers that caused so many deaths and injuries. Something that I also found to be worth noting is the Generalized System of Preferences which was constructed as part of the Trade Act of 1974 in the United States of America gives leniency to Bangladesh to help them grow economically in the world. For example, no tariffs and also duty free items. There is a list that talks about the apparel and textile, and travel goods and how they are categorized which help developing nations with duty free imports. It can be found here (Office of the United States Trade Representative). As for energy, Bangladesh gets 66% of its energy from natural gas. With other means of energy from Bangladesh’s small oil and coal reserves. Bangladesh actually can self sustain itself when it comes to energy as well, with having an extra 2% that can be sold and outsourced to other countries. This is huge as in 2000 only around 32% of the population had access to electricity, whereas now over 98% have access to electricity in 2021. (See Fig. 3) (Ritchie and Roser). This is a huge step up, and one can make the argument that it was because of the garment industry and the funds that it brought to the country that boosted the economy as well as bringing so much into the country such as electricity for countless people. At the same time though with all of this happening Bangladesh is still regarded as one of the most corrupt countries on the planet which is ranked 149th out of 180 (Transparency International). So I do not know entirely what to think about all of this. Is it fair for me to regard Bangladesh as a country that is good? Is any country intrinsically good? Has the Bangladeshi government done right by their people? How would one define that? 

Going forward, how I would change Bangladesh if I was the Prime Minister. To me the meaning of a leader is to lead. The leader of a country must be morally and ethically balanced. They also must be someone that has grit and determination to have a country that is stable, and has people who are happy and are in the best condition that they are in. Of course this is not something that will actually happen as I am an American of European descent, but I still believe that I can retort my reasoning as to what I would do if I were the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Of course this is super utopian, and that none of this would ever happen because I would probably be killed in the first hour that I would be Prime Minister, but the first step I would do would be to just not be corrupt. I would forcefully remove the people in parliament who have been involved in corruption. Which is actually insane because over 97% of the people in the Bengali parliament are corrupt (U4 Expert Answer) would be to optimize the energy production in the country. I believe that for a country to be self-sustaining, it needs to have clean energy and enough energy to export, but to also keep all of the people with electricity that does not entirely rely on foreign exports. Because Bangladesh has countless rivers, and lots of land offshore I would build windmills as well as dams to create hydroelectricity. The next thing I would do would be to push for education in the country. To build more schools, and fund more colleges so that people can get educated. I would then also push for more of a government backed health system as well. Then I would also after all of that is instated I would push for the companies that use my country to manufacture goods to pay the factories enough so that the workers can make a good wage. I would also add overtime as well as a work week of 4 0h0 hours. No human should be put through that much to make 114 dollars a week. I know that recently Bangladesh did increase the minimum wage for garment workers, but I would increase that to possibly 150 dollars, if not more. (Preuss) With that being said those are the basic outlines to what I would do, as well as try to implement if I was Prime Minister. This would also be the outline to me that the new Prime Minister Yunus should follow. But then of course he is Bengali and knows more than me what the country actually needs. (Regan) 

Figures: 

* Figure 1 Figure  2

Fig 3

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