Enlightenment Philosophers Take a Trip to China

John Locke began striding through the doorway, he took a turn left, right, right, hallway after hallway. His face full of disgust and anger for what he saw. People lined up by the hundreds just inches apart looking miserable and in fear. There was a smell of sweat and styrofoam within the thick concrete walls. Locke stopped for a moment when he heard a crack of a scream and a beg for help, but none else reacted, workers kept their heads down and focus at their hands while the woman was dragged out the back. Lock returned to his purpose heading for the second-floor office where a shadow moved behind the blinds. It was clear John Locke knew his way around the building, he’d been here many times before but the workers around didn’t quiver like they did when the owner, Jean-Jacques Rousseau came near them. Locke caught Rousseau in the hall trying to make a quick escape but it was too late for him, Locke’s eyes showed hatred for his old friend, he was determined to put an end to this disagreement immediately.

“How dare you come to my place of work, this is unacceptable!” Rousseau hollered

“This factory is no place for acceptance Jean-Jaques, what happened to you? What have you done to this place? Look at this, this is a mess!” Locke returned

“All I’ve done here since you left was made this place better, look at this, we’ve monopolized the entire textile industry.”

“It’s no wonder Lakeside Clothing couldn’t keep up with you. You’ve tyrannized everyone one of your workers, no one else has the gut to be that cruel.”

“Who cares, look at Amazon, they’re the biggest company in the world look at how they’re treating their workers. It’s how you make money” Rousseau stopped looking afraid and was now and was eager to stop this debate for his own good.

“Congratulations Jean you’ve become the richest monster in what used to be the most successful industry!”

Rousseau was hurt, it was obvious, his adrenaline had faded and there was a look of realization on his face. It would appear that Locke had won this fight, but for the powerful man Rousseau was, this was too municipal of a fight to be shut down easily. The hallway was eerily silent until two large security guards came through, thumping through the corridor to forcefully escort Locke away. Not a word was said between the two, not a word had to be said. Their faces told the whole story; they were astonished, infuriated at each other, but more than that, they were remorseful for how wrong their lives have gone since they separated.

***

It was a week after the confrontation between Locke and Rousseau but nothing had changed between them, their nerves have calmed and Rousseau was making more money than ever. Locke spent his time watching construction twenty-four hours a day making more and more factories and ruining the quality of life for more people everyday. He thought to himself what would happen to his world or his kids' world if the growth of urbanization continued. There was nothing he could do, there was no way he could get back into the factory and the government was too busy fighting wars to care about one company’s misuse of their workers. Knock Knock Knock, Locke was shocked at the sound of knocking at his door, distributing his deep thinking. Behind the door was a frail woman, tall and thin, she wore dirty clothes stained of grease and tattered with holes.

“Is you John Locke?” she mumbled, her lips purple and arms shaking through the rain.

“Yes, that’s me. Who are you?” Locke’s voice was stern but his face showed he was confused because the neighborhood he was apart of wasn’t known to be awfully friendly. Most people were simply there to make money, sleep and do it over again. Locke’s tone changed immediately when he saw something wrong with her. Her leg was off the ground like a puppy who broke a leg, she had a streak of blood dripping from her left cheek, it was fresh.

“Come in, let's get you patched up,” Locke said softly.

It took a while for the women to stop trembling but once she did, she spoke hazily, it was clear she was not speaking in her first language.

“My name is Fei, I work at Rousseau Textiles for many years, and I am one of few workers that remember you from before you left. there was incident today please Mr. Locke I beg you to do something, we tried many many times but my fellow workers starving, we have n...n..nowhere to sleep. Please sir” The women began to get worked up and started to cry tears of hate for Rousseau.

“Yes, Fei, I’ve been tracking all this but what happened, what was the incident?”

Fei was tormented about what had happened, her face turned dull the moment she thought about what to say.

“Once you left, Rousseau yells that one of the workers tipped you off. He puts us to work, told us we have the next two days to do the month’s work of product and that no one leave or sleep till we finish.”

“That’s terrible Miss but that doesn’t explain how you got this,” Locke pointed to the gash on Fei’s face that had begun to bleed again after talking.

“Me and my sister, the two oldest employees had to do something, the children were too afraid to say anything. We told the boss no worker tipped anyone off and that they do not deserve what happening. That’s when he gave me this, and my sister, she…” Fei’s face was now a mess of blood and tears and she began to tremble once again.

“What, what happened to your sister?”

“Ming, he killed her, she dead”

“That sick piece of shit!” Locke approached Fei to give her a hug. He held her to the very moment she caught her breath.

“Fei, I don’t have an answer to this yet but I promise, there will be justice for this animal. Tomorrow Fei, we will do something about this, you know you’re free from the government through your rights, but tomorrow, you will have real freedom.”

***

The sun rose over the city of Chongqing. As always, Locke woke out of bed and made his tea, but he wasn’t alone this time. He shared the table with Fei who was rested now. Despite the tenseness in the room, Locke began to admire Fei and how strong she was through this terrible time in her life. Talking was difficult, he wasn’t sure whether to show empathy or try to avoid the situation altogether. He came to his senses an decided that if they were going to do something, they must talk about what they will do. He set his orange mug down next to Fei’s and leaned over the wood table, making a slight squeak as he rested his arm on it. He set his hand over her’s, noticing how rough it was, her palm masked by various scars from years at the factory.

“Fei, how would you feel about taking a trip to the police station and talking to them.”

“No, no way. They arrest me before they hear my story, they know who we are.” Fei remarked

“What? I refuse to keep a felon under my roof! Now I demand you tell me what you’ve done.” Locke stood up astonished by what she’d admitted.

“I’m sorry Mr. Locke but all I done was not pay my fees, there nothing I could do, I hadn’t had the money.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for my reaction. How would you feel if I went alone?” Locke questioned but had no real plan on what he would say if he did go.

“Police no help. Rousseau pay them monthly to ‘not see anything’ when they come by.”

“This animal doesn’t know where to stop does he?” Locke fell back in his chair and thought for a moment. His eyebrows rose and his cheeks lit up,

“Fei, I have one last idea, can you talk to all the workers outside of the factory?”

“Yes, all the floor workers share rooms in my apartment building.”

“How would you feel about…”

***

By the end of the month, the story of how Rousseau Textiles came to an end hit headlines on international new. The story read: “Jean-Jacques Rousseau Arrested for Murder and Other Charges.” Many people gained their lives back, all the workers of the factory returned to their jobs safely and happily after being on-strike for weeks at a time. Rousseau was dependent on his hard-working employees so much that in a matter of weeks without them, he had gone completely bankrupt. And for the workers, the kind people of the city agreed to house them as they did not make money to live on their own. When Rousseau Textiles shut down, it called for the police to investigate the claims made by the employees putting Rousseau in his proper place, a six by eight cell, for good.

***

It took little time for the gap in the textile industry to be filled. Locke-Zhang Manufacturers became the leaders in the textile industry with many locations around the world. The two owners were famous for their hospitality and ingenuity, after all, they’d been in the business longer than anyone else.