Sweatshops

I struggled a lot as I read these pieces regarding Sweatshops. I thought I would find myself completely against sweatshops but I found myself thinking otherwise after reading the articles. Sweatshops are a terrible thing in regards to how the workers are treated and what the conditions in the factory are. It is not right to have people especially children working such long hours in horrible conditions and to be abused in such ways. These inhumane working conditions need to be changed and I think that there needs to be some kind of regulations put into place in these factories. It may not be possible financially for some sweatshops to put up better conditions but then that shows that those shops should be shut down. I am not asking for pristine conditions, but anything is better than what these people work in currently.
However, I was so torn between the moral standing of sweatshops after the articles that I did a little more research and found two quotes that really made me think. The first  was a quote from Jeffrey Sachs: "My concern is not that there are too many sweatshops but that there are too few." This really just agrees with my first argument that we need to change the organization of sweatshops. Sweatshops and small factories cannot be taken out of these Eastern countries because of how poor their economy is doing. They may not have any other options for work that are available for them. This may be their only option to work and I cant argue against them working if this is their only choice.
The other quote is by Paul Krugman: "Why does the image of an Indonesian sewing sneakers for 60 cents an hour evoke so much more feeling than the image of another Indonesian earning the equivalent of 30 cents an hour trying to feed his family on a tiny plot of land?" In this we find another option for workers trying to supply for their family, but we have  no problem with it even though he is working in tough conditions and earning less. I think it might have to do with who the product of the labor is. In the sweatshop example the product is going to the Western countries and for the farmer the produce is going to stay with him and his family and his immediate community. But then this begs the question, is it really the sweatshops we have a problem with if they were supplying to themselves or is it the fact that they are sending their products to the wealthy Western countries?