Great stuff. The ignorance on this issue is astonishing. As the piece noted, we will all freak out over abuse of animals (rightly so) but seemed to be bored over abuse of workers. Anyway, this guy is right on.

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I remember commercials of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union singing about "look for the union label it will tell you it was made in the USA!"
http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/1313/

Now? Find a company that makes articles of clothing in the USA and they say so proudly as they take you to the bank for the loan to purchase some of it. They are now CAPITALIZING on their jingoistic PATRIOTISM. How sad.

Worse? Our consumer culture which now eats to eat rather than for nutrition (enter Morgan Sprulock's "Super Size Me"). We shop to shop and the "side-effect" is purchasing something; the cheaper the better.

The USA is no longer about QUALITY, it is about QUANTITY and every owner of a Dollar Store can prove that by how much weekly merchandise leaves his store. We want t-shirts for $5.00 from those sweat shops. We need $10.00 shoes for our kids. We need cheaps stuff.

Why are we driven for a consumer economy based on the cheaper the better? Perhaps we can start by looking at wage increases vs buying power, expense increases on medical insurance, co-pays, housing, gasoline, etc.

And then their is the "I'm not going to take it anymore attitude" which is a backlash of the rich getting the tax breaks and living the easy life with walk-in closets as big as most middle class workers' homes and the resentment that they cannot "have" drives purchases. It's sad but true, when the country is in a depressed state after years of empty promises and lies, the only person you can trust to fill your needs is yourself, even if those needs are as fleeting as a trip to the mall.

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Yes, sweatshop labor is a serious issue, but as a retail shop owner, it's tiring to be attacked by people like this. It's easy to be sarcastic, without knowing if you really have the correct facts. Can you really tell me where my stuff is made, and what the conditions are? What are you wearing right now as you walk in my door and act superior? Can you tell me where it was all made and what the conditions were? Are all sweatshops overseas? (no) And when I sell something made in the US, you turn your nose up at it as being too expensive, and for "rich people". So what are you really trying to accomplish? (By the way, my products are NOT made in a sweatshop, but that doesn't keep people from assuming they are, and acting like pigs.)

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Great commentary - too few people are aware of sweatshops, slave labor used in the harvesting of cocoa beans for chocolate, small coffee farmers unable to compete in this global economy fostered by NAFTA, and the loss of our jobs to factory mills that exploit their workers. Perhaps the tainting of our pet food, toothpaste, and toys made in these substandard conditions will help inform the public. Find a Fair Trade Shop in your community or shop online for Fair Trade goods - the difference in price is comparitively small and worth it!!

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