From the couch

By KC Crouse · The Mainstream
Published November 9, 2010

Dear Couch,

I feel guilty. I keep questioning the whole consumer thing. In business class, sociology class, even my media lab, I keep hearing things that make me question whether I’m partially to blame for the world’s sweatshops if I buy their products.

When I look at the label on my knock-off, made-in-China Converses, I keep thinking about the hands that sewed my shoes. What if they were made by some little kid sweating over a machine 12 hours a day?

I’m not totally un-informed; I’ve heard about the Chinese kids abducted and sold as slaves to work in a brick factory. I read about Chinese skyscraper employees and Foxconn workers killing themselves trying to get enough world sympathy to force their wages up. I know the leading cause of death for rural Chinese women is suicide, and no wonder -- if you’re never going to get more than $150 a month, you’re never gonna have enough to feed your kids or your family back home depending on you.

So, couch, if I just bought U.S. goods, would I be helping the world’s poor or just making their lives worse? Maybe a sweat shop job is better than no job at all? Couch, I haven’t bought a thing at Wal-Mart in months, but I don’t want those people to lose their jobs either. What do I do?

Dear Concerned Consumer,

It does seem like a crappy job would be better than no job at all, but as you so correctly mentioned, Chinese workers are dying in an attempt to improve workplace conditions. U.S. retailers will give American consumers what they want. Be strong, vote with your pocketbook and buy the products that allow you to sleep with a clear conscience. If we insist on buying products manufactured by employees paid a living wage then China will pay a living wage. After all, they want to export as much as we want to import from them.