(picture: news.com.au)
As you probably know by now, a building that houses garment factories in Bangladesh collapsed this week. The latest death toll that I can find is 244; sadly I am sure that number will rise as workers clear the rubble and more bodies are found. The building was known to be structurally unsound; but the work continued.
The work continued because the beast known as America's Addiction To Cheap Stuff needed to be fed.
Slowly, we are seeing a renewed interest in American Made products. But I think it's going to be a long haul. American-made clothes are hard to find, and are (obviously) more expensive than stuff made in China or Bangladesh. When you are on a budget, it's oh-so-easy to get sucked in by "affordable" items like they have at Old Navy. During Christmas break I took my boys on an outing to San Francisco. We needed to find a bathroom, so we ventured in to the flagship Old Navy--four floors of cheap stuff. They had fleece jackets for kids for $4. That was the full price--they weren't on sale. For a fleeting moment I thought about buying some for my kids. In the Bay Area, lightweight jackets are appropriate all year long. Dead of winter? A fleece jacket with a scarf is just about right. Dead of summer? You need the jacket, but maybe you can leave the scarf at home. I quickly snapped out of my cheap-stuff reverie and hightailed it out of the store, feeling physically ill by the overwhelming abundance of cheap stuff.
I'm deeply thankful for the accessibility of good second-hand stuff in my area. I can clothe my family without feeding the beast and without emptying my wallet.
