Sweatshop Style

[eNonsense]

Now here's a dirty topic to put on a fashion forum.

I recently ran across this article headlined: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap. It's disturbing, but not surprising. I'm the type of person that tries to stand behind the mantra "vote with your dollar" as much as I can, but reading this got me thinking about where I could track back everything that I'm currently wearing.

I know where my hoodie, shirt, jawns, hat, wallet & watch were made. My drawers, belt and socks are pretty generic. On top of that, even though something says made in America doesn't mean that the materials used in the garment may not have been produced in shady ways. Many of our higher fashion brands pride themselves on their legit production means. Others lie, push the topic under the rug, or have both legit domestic and shady foreign production.

I guess I'm just creating this topic to start a discussion since a forum search didn't turn up another one.

It's a fact of life in western culture that in order to maintain the standard of living that we have, people are exploited in order for us to have extra money for luxuries. It's not something that we like to think about though, because we enjoy having disposable income and the people effected seem so far away.

Anyways. Now I've got to go do some research about the conditions behind my H&M underwear production.

Discuss.

[Guest Krack]

People around the world need jobs.

What 90% of idiots my age fail to realize is that the companies such as Hanes and Levis offer employment to people across the globe. In the factory the average daily salary is 3 dollars a day, compared to the average minimum wage of Haitians is 1.25.

The price and standard of living in these countries is much lower than it is here in the States.

I don't mind where my clothes are made, I live a more than comfortable life, at the end of the day I know that I am supporting a person far less fortunate than I.

[jyoni]

The only problem I have with it is that it is a very selective and controlled form of so-called "globalism." If we're jumping in under the "globalism" banner, might as well go all the way (lower wages, lower cost of living, lower everything) instead of nibbling our own tail on it, waiting for it all to just finally burn out.

[White Teeth]

People around the world need jobs.

What 90% of idiots my age fail to realize is that the companies such as Hanes and Levis offer employment to people across the globe. In the factory the average daily salary is 3 dollars a day, compared to the average minimum wage of Haitians is 1.25.

The price and standard of living in these countries is much lower than it is here in the States.

I don't mind where my clothes are made, I live a more than comfortable life, at the end of the day I know that I am supporting a person far less fortunate than I.

Are you trolling? To really understand these economics one has to examine the historical context behind them, otherwise you are making some truly politically blind statements

[White Teeth]

...I can't help myself but do you think Haiti is poor because there is a "culture of poverty"? The example above points toward the contrary, and is just one example of what has been happening to Haiti for decades...

Hanes would still have made 140+ million in profits if they had paid the workers there our minimum wage, much less the measly 0.61 they were asking for. Think about it.

[bfan]

to me if you participate in our economic system you're always going to be complicit to some degree, there's no getting around neoliberalism or imperialism or whatever you want to call it. it sucks but everyone has to play the game, or just live completely outside of society and go without all the conveniences of technology.

and yeah, I think the jobs argument is pretty shallow.