When I look at a cute dress, then I find it is on sale-it’s a great day. I’ll be the first to admit that I love having hordes of outfits to choose from, which I will hardly ever be satisfied with because both myself and fashion change so rapidly. I do not want to just own the necessities, I want all the colors, all the styles, and all the things. Yet, there are people out there who do not own ONE pair of socks, or let alone SHOES. What? How is that possible to even imagine in an easy consumeristic society like the one we live in? You can buy three pairs of socks for just one dollar at the nearest dollar store. You can buy two tacos at the nearest fast food restaurant for one dollar. Why does my one dollar seem like nothing to me, but could change someone else’s day/week/month/year/life?
Decency is different from decorated. This is a provocative statement I am making, but I find this concept to have rocked the way that I see the world markets.
Every single one of us has a global closet, this means that we collect our garments and they may have been bought here in the USA, but they were most likely not crafted here. Why is that? Transparency in the pyramid of manufacturing is not always as trust-worthy as it may seem. What often happens with factories outside of the USA (and yes, this happens in the USA as well) is that there are not the same regulations and labor laws that have been established in our country. This means that the supply chain might operate with unfair wages, poor working conditions, and use child labor.
Suddenly, that really cute designer shirt looks like a piece of garbage because “there is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.” -Hakatma Gandhi
There is no guarantee that your inexpensive pair of leggings you bought from the mall is made with slave labor, but there are sweatshops in existence today that are getting away with treating people much less than any human deserves.
Your rights might be protected, but what about theirs? Am I handing my money to the corporations that enslave people to their work without fair treatment? Do I have things that were made by the hands of people who have been oppressed into a life of unstable and unsafe surroundings? GULP. This reality is just TOO REAL.
