When I think of “Made in China” I think of how the world really works. Today most products bought in the United States are made in China. After watching the documentary “Mardi Gras Made in China” I see that many people in China sacrifice their lives for meager pay and being separated from their families. Seeing these kinds of things happens makes me feel terrible about the world we live in and how I am making it worse by continuing to purchase these products. I have tried to stop but most of these products are products that we literally cannot go a day without using. As a person who looks at the world the way it is, I see that these sorts of things and accept that this is the way the world works. To have these sorts of products we need to accept that what we see in the documentary is going to happen. If you believe you can live without all products made in China I dare you.
Globalization is the process of companies expanding all over the world. Trade and markets drive expansion. Profit is a driving factor in the decision to start the process of globalization. Companies will make more money through expansion all over the world. Most companies would rather move their factories to another part for less money. That is just simple economy theory at work there.
This is a nice lead in to the next question about why United States companies outsource oversees and why United States consumers purchase these products. In the documentary they showed the people of New Orleans celebrating with the beads made in China. More than likely those beads cost about a penny to make in China and cost less than a dollar to buy in the United States. They are making millions of these types of products. The companies and consumers are basically abusing the people in China because of how cheap they can make and buy things while the Chinese people are suffering in horrible conditions and very poor pay.
The conditions within these factories producing these products are terrible at best. They are forced to live outside their homes far away from their families for months and sometimes years. While they are working there usually work fourteen-hour shifts and for the most parts get very little breaks during these shifts. On the job they are not allowed to talk to their counterparts within the factory. Outside of work they are allowed very little social interaction. They can only talk in certain areas and men and women are not allowed into each other’s rooms.
Why do these people do these jobs? For the most part it is because jobs in many areas where the United States companies are sending there are scarce at best. Many people in the United States do not realize how lucky we have it. We do not have to endure what many people in the documentary are going through. A lot of the time the older sibling will go work in the factories so his or her younger sibling can have better opportunities in the future. That is quite a sacrifice to make and we should be feeling lucky we do not have to make those sacrifice or…
http://fashion.lilithezine.com/Nike-Sweatshops-in-China.html
We do not have to work in places like these. Think about that for a moment.