My wife and I had been talking for a long time about a start-up business. We'd been looking for something challenging and rewarding. As you can imagine, when this well-targeted Google ad popped up it was a eureka moment for both of us:

Labor camps! Of course! Why didn't we think of that? So much better than ostrich farms or retailing on eBay.

I know from having read Anne Applebaum's Gulag that labor camps can be immensely profitable - the Soviet Union relied on them. And part of China's great economic success stems from the low-cost labor often associated with mass involuntary servitude.

As the ads contend, China is the world's supplier of all your labor camp needs. North Korea too, I suppose, but they're not really big on the Internet just yet.

We immediately sketched out our plan for a small, manageable labor camp. Nothing too fancy as we could always expand later. We secured a small parcel of land in upstate New York (a bargain because it was clay soil next to a mosquito-infested swamp). Taxes are minimal.

As the ad promised, we got a better deal on a bulk labor camp. It arrived in 3,221 separate shipments. Granted, most of our spring was exhausting as we spent it installing fence posts, latrines and razor wire. But - I'm happy to say we're now in business and looking forward to the adventure that is entrepreneurship.

©Brian Sack | Filed under: Marketing | 2 Comments | Email to a Friend
Tags: China | Forced Labor | Marketing