IN THE MIDDLE?
I have shirts and sweaters , shoes and socks, under and outer wear, pajamas, pants, neckties, belts, buckles and other items which are all made everywhere. I haven't tried to keep a list detailing the many nationalities to whom I am beholden for my sartorial splendor.
A partial list of those places, taken off-head, without any research includes: Nepal, Kenya, China, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India, Dominican Republic, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Honduras and Mexico. There must others, too. Take time to look at the labels which give an approximate idea of where the product may have originated.
I understand , at least, in a partial sense, why this is way it is today ...the way has been ever since we started shipping our manufacturing skills and methods overseas. I think I understand part of the reasons why this condition has come to be logical since we are part of a world-wide economy far, far removed from our farm-to-dining-room- table, or plant-to-user type of business and commerce. It isn't that way any longer and I'm willing to go along with the concept that claims off shoring is the way to go, but there is one step in all of this which continues to worry me.
I can accept the idea that by providing work for foreigners to do in their own area we are supplanting their economy. That makes better sense than handouts and less of a temptation to graft and corruption than politically oriented assistance on a government to government basis. I never see any
pie charts showing how much we are helping those people by providing employment. Some of the products we receive are actually superior to what we used to be happy with locally, and the usual way of explaining away the price difference is that - in ultra-plain words “they use slave labor”. Pushed a bit, we admit we do not mean that yin a literal sense, but it comes pretty close when worker are grossly underpaid for what they do. The argument can be made that they are being paid at a far better rate than what they normally can expect to get locally. They profit and we pay less on our end, too. The point that worries me is, who sits there in the middle brokering all of these deals? What percentage of the of overall profits goes to this segment of these offshore systems?
What does the middle man, woman, group, association, con consortium, amalgam, corporation,, foundation, society, or soother such classification get?
It is all very much like buying a one-cent item on “e-bay” on our computer, or other such auction site. One cent! What a bargain? But watch for an inflated shipping and handling charge! S&H mans a lot more than just postage and stuffing your bargain into a used cardboard box.
I would like very much to see a clear accounting of who gets what, when and why in our overseas businesses. Profits are limited for the native workers. Savings on the buyer's side are nothing to get excited about, and the main reason we buy the products that are made overseas is that we have no real choice.
It's past time to take an honest look at what actually goes on behind the scenes. Is free trade fair?
A.L.M. October 22, 2004 [c557wds]
