Rant
So like an hour ago I had a timed writing in my english 101 class, and suprisingly I came out with this very opinionated yet valid piece. I’m pretty proud of myself. The government has no morals whatsoever …
How often do we glance at the tags of our brand new trench coats and see the phrase, “Made in the U.S.A”? That’s right not very often. International trade in the textile industry has taken over in the last century or so. The clothes we wear everyday were created in countries such as China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. In the novel The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy, Pietra Rivoli emphasizes the effects on international trade for both the manufacturing countries as well as the U.S. as a distribution country. International trade can be seen as a positive concept or a negative and there are many valid points regarding the effects this current system has. A chain effect can be pulled from international trade in assuming that the amount of jobs in the U.S. will decrease causing the amount of jobs in foreign countries to increase. All though we are losing jobs the chain continues as there is a decrease in cost of goods which allows the profit for the U.S. to increase substantially in the textile and apparel industry.
With the U.S. outsourcing the majority of its textile manufacturing jobs, a significant number of mid-westerners are being left unemployed and were forced to work for the enemy company such as Wal-Mart or IBM. Americans were furious at the idea of losing jobs and allowing foreign countries that are far less fortunate to receive those lost jobs and contribute to the enhancement of their own country. Rivoli states, “In Bangladesh, however, there is little other industry and no safety net of any kind.”(Rivoli, 168) When someone in Bangladesh loses are job there is no other option. The rate of unemployment in these manufacturing companies may be decreasing their conditions are of inferior quality to the conditions of the factories that are still present in the U.S. Wages are less and quality of life is less as well. The United States will always be on top in the global economy but on their eternal rise still try to demean the less fortunate companies that ultimately fund our wealth. “While employment in the U.S textile and apparel complex fell by approximately 60 percent from 1990 to 2004, production output in this sector has been relatively steady.” (Rivoli, 140) As the American’s complain about the Chinese workers taking all of the available textile jobs, the amount in China is steadily decreasing as well. Who is taking the jobs is this question. The answer is simple, technology. There is no one else to blame but ourselves and wanting to advance the simplistic world we once started as.
“The economic costs of protecting the U.S textile and apparel industries from imports have been estimated…most researchers conclude that the costs fall under the general category of Very Big Numbers.”(Rivoli, 143) In other words, Rivoli is saying that America will spend whatever it takes to have the best outcome in the long run. Unlike countries that are about the short term, the U.S tends to invest in long term, a plan which ultimately leads to our success. If we dig down deep, which could be the real reason that the U.S. relies heavily on the trade agreements of allowing imports into such a sophisticated country. The advantage of having people work for less and the ability to use machines has given the factories the ability to sell the goods at a cheaper cost. The U.S. apparel industry uses this to their advantage in hopes of increasing profit. Apparel from the sweatshops is how consumers save daily; with low prices they are able to buy more which increases the profit of the companies ultimately increasing the profit of the U.S. economy. Although Rivoli points out that, “…consumers are willing to pay a premium for assurance that their clothing is not made in sweatshops…” (Rivoli, 170) If consumers are willing to pay at an increased price point, why does the government allow the purchasing of goods from sweatshops at all? The morality behind the master plan is inconceivable if even existent at all, but it seems to work to our advantage.
When we think about outsourcing we believe it’s a bad thing and how it’s hurting our economy but in reality it is ultimately helping us grow. International trade is used to the advantage of the country as a whole. Although some people may be losing jobs the other effects of international trade are substantial in seeing the growth of the U.S. economy. As U.S jobs decrease, outsourced jobs are potentially increased which allows the goods to be sold at a cheaper price leading to the increase in profit for the U.S economy and the textile and apparel industries.
