Fair Trade?:Hopes and Childhood Dreams for Profit

Where was  the shirt you are currently wearing made? My high school track t-shirt was assembled in Mexico. Chances are the shirts that you and I are wearing were produced in a sweatshop. As a consumer I do feel some guilt when I purchase my clothing. The problem is that there is not a feasible solution for the average person to avoid sweatshop made clothes. Our incomes do not make it easy for us to afford specially tailor made clothes or other friendlier choices but rather mass produced clothes. Isn't that disgusting? Workers tend to only be able to afford shirts that were made with cost to workers elsewhere. The guilt should not be put on the workers. 

The blame lies with capitalism. A system that rewards those who take financial risks with wealth. A system that encourages private interests. A system that makes stepping over others to reach the top acceptable. A system that doe not take morals into consideration. A system that does not take human beings into account. That is okay? I do not agree. 

I recently watched "Zoned for Slavery:The Child Behind the Label" (1995).  This short documentary focuses on the young women who work in a sweatshop in the Free Trade Zone of Honduras and the abuse they face at work on a daily basis. It is heartbreaking and terrifying.   The young women work long hours with very little pay.  Their wages are inadequate dismal compared to the retail value of the shirts. They receive 12 cents, when it costs the consumer $20 to purchase them. Not all of the $19.88 goes to the costs of production, it is a safe bet to assume that most goes to the capitalists. PROFIT. At $20 a shirt these girls will never be able to afford the shirts that they themselves assembled. I'm not a mathematician, but I know that is ridiculous.

 In addition to less than livable wages, the young women face tremendous abuse by the hands of management. Forced overtime, beatings and insufficient breaks plague the workplace. I am sure this will make anyone angry, not just feminists. The factory forces its workers to take birth control pills daily. And if a young woman ends up getting pregnant they administer a shot to abort the fetus. Taking away a woman's right to choose for profit??? Absolutely inhumane.   That made my blood boil. The thing that made me tear up a little bit was when the interviewer asked one of the young women, "Do you want to go to school?" and she answers with a big smile  and you can see all of her hopes and dreams appear and disappear "Yes".  These young women work long hours which makes it impossible for them to attend school. They are poor young women who do not have any other choice have to work in such grave conditions in order to help their families. Their circumstances do not allow them to enjoy the childhood that one should. Loss of innocence,loss of dreams, loss of hopes for these young working women. Gain for the profiteers. 

are the profits worth such high prices? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

It's that beautiful time of the year again...

....it's time to register for next semester!


True fact: the Class Schedule webpage is my favorite webpage on the interwebs.

We, as Intellectual Dreamboat Fan Girlz, take registration season very seriously. This is a process that will require several revisions and a mourning period for the classes we will not have time to enjoy the following semester. Followup activities include gazing into the pages of our books until class begins!

Here is my own personal list of possible history classes for fall 2009:

HIST 3000 - The Family from 10,000 BCE to the Present

HIST 3415 - Migrations in Modern Global History

HIST 3417 - Food in History

HIST 3797 - History of Population

HIST 3802 - Religion in Early America

HIST 3821 - The United States in the 20th Century to 1945

HIST 3863 - The Black Diaspora in Historical Perspective
~STARRING SAJE MATHIEU

So many dreamboat experiences just waiting to happen!

With How to do History and a looming required math credit, it has become clear that only two history courses are possible for my next semester. The tragedy may, however, provide ample time to savor each class even more!