The Free Market Value of Deaf Children

We have more in common than we think with the poor countries that manufacture the stuff we buy at Wal-Mart. Here the sign says, "Deaf Children at Play." There, it says, "Deaf Children at Work." Either way, we have to be cautious so that we don't kill them -- here, because they have intrinsic value as human beings playing in the street; and there, because they have intrinsic value as industrial machines working in the child slavery sweatshop. Like Santa's elves, toiling hour after hour beatifically, deaf child slaves making mass-produced non-biodegradable goods for us remind us that smiling and laughter are understood universally. Though they could never hear me, I stroll through the aisles of Wal-Mart, humming "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in their honor, looking for a waffle iron.