US Olympic Outfits

[Hollylane]

Originally Posted by Ciaran

My post made no reference to the remuneration of clothing employees in Asia - rather, it was to counter a post that implied that items produced in the US were superior to those produced overseas.

Most of us are aware that outsourcing / offshoring is primarily to reduce costs so I'm not going to try to argue that those who work in offshoring roles in Asia are well paid and, similarly, most of us are aware of "sweatshops", poorly regulated, that exist across much of Asia.

That said, last time I looked, many US workers in the garment industry weren't well paid and, furthermore, with the cost of living in the US, you'll find that the quality of lifestyle of many full-time workers in the US is often not much better (and can be worse) than those in comparable roles in much of the developing world (BRIC nations and the Next Eleven).

I hear that you are saying that you are aware about the pay and treatment of outsourced workers.

While they are saving money, those savings are not showing up in the costs of these outfits, and we are not saving face in the eyes of the world by participating in giving more jobs to a country who so obviously does not care about their own people, our people, or the environment. In my opinion, by doing this, we are becoming a country of people who doesn't care about our people (jobs, even temporary ones are better than no employment opportunities), their people (workers who are forced to work for pennies, forced to work long hours, threatened, forced to live in unsanitary living quarters...etc...etc), or the environment (we do not hold their factories to the same standards of our own).

Is this the face of America? I hope not. I think it is the face of American Corporate Greed. It is a side of America, but not one that I'd like to see so prominently and shamelessly displayed at the Olympics.

As far as quality goes, I don't need to claim that American made clothing is better than what is produced in any other country. But, I will say that in my experience, most of the clothing I have ever purchased that was made in China, has not been of the best quality, and rarely keeps its shape or color through a few washes.

As a personal choice, I do not want to purchase anything that is made in another country that has something on it about our country. To be clear, I mean that I try not to purchase a Mt St Helen's sweat jacket, that is made in another country. If I want a memory of Washington, I'd like that article of clothing to at least be American made. It just doesn't carry the same memory value otherwise.

Admittedly, I just went into my closet and discovered that I am sometimes a hypocrite when it comes to my choices. I guess I have to work harder at sticking to my guns when it comes to my tourist type purchases.