I do my best to shop at local businesses and buy locally produced goods as much as possible. If not local, then at least domestic, i.e., made in the USA.
Now, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a xenophobe or a patriotic conservative, but I believe that no matter what country a person lives in, the goal of that nation/region should be to produce as many goods and services domestically as possible. Sort of national/regional self-sufficency for all nations/regions. This is the only sustainable, humane, and intelligent way forward.
Predatory capitalism and unbridled expansionism are destroying the earth and its inhabitants, and worse, they destroy our sense of community and integrity as humans in a social/moral sphere. The greed of a few is destroying the framework of human decency. All is *not* fair just because it's called "business".
This weekend, I was shopping around for some clothes. No matter where I went, I could not find a single item made in the USA. I was looking at rain coats/outerwear, there were some very nice ones with the price tag of 299$ and upward. If I'm going to pay that much money, I would like to see some of it come back into my own local community, rather than a few pennies of it going overseas somewhere to pay slave labor, while the greedy execs that run the company get filthier and richer.
I went online, and found this website, which compiles lists of companies that produce their goods in the USA. I was surprised at how little there was in the way of clothing...but at least it was a start. A quote from that site states:
“Statistics indicate if every American cared enough to buy just one USA Made garment per year, the impact would be nearly $9 billion. That creates an amazing amount of jobs for just one article of clothing per American!”
I'll also continue to shop at local thrift and charity shops...even if the clothes I buy there weren't originally made domestically, at least the resale of it is going back into my local community.
Growing up, my mother sewed most of our clothes...I think I'm going to have to return to that tradition, provided I can find the fabric.
Interesting post Jessy. I think some countries in the world do rely on exporting goods though and conversely most countries do need to import goods also. I think the key is to buy from ethical companies who treat their suppliers/workers fairly(if you can find any!)
ReplyDeleteI decided to follow your blog after reading the comments you left on Ali's blog 'Vegan Epicurean'. I thought your comments were spot on and exactly what I was thinking but wasn't eloquent enough to say! So well done there. I'm thinking of addressing this issue in a future blog post but may chicken out yet!
I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my randomness :)
I agree, we need to support companies that do have a sense of ethics. And, I know that a world without imports/exports is not possible in this day and age, and not desirable either...countries have different sets of resources and if they can help build their economies off of exporting goods etc, I'm not against that.
It's just the degree to which nearly everything has been outsourced here (US). It wasn't always that way. There was a time when people could buy affordable clothes and other items made here. And that did not exclude importing either.
And indeed many of the companies that now outsource their production lines used to produce here...and they did not go abroad with the well-being of other less developed economies in mind, let's say, but rather for the sole benefit of their own mega profits. I love the way they call a 300$ rain jacket "imported" as opposed to "outsourced", which is a more apt description.
I remember that discussion on Vegan Epicurean. I had a difficult time figuring out what her main gist was, but the discussion in the comments was interesting.
I think if you want to address the issue on your blog you should go for it. As long as people are respectful, I see no harm in a bit of polemic.
By the way, don't ever feel you should hold back anything here. I don't pretend to be an expert on anything, nor even right about it...these are just my thoughts. I invite anyone who is so inclined to chime in...I find that things usually aren't black or white, but some shade of gray in between.
Again, thanks for stopping by :)