The high cost of cheap clothing

[RW]

Fash, I'll tell you my real opinion because this is an online forum with some distance.  I feel better buying from companies that pay their employees decently.  I'm not wealthy.  I'm not an entertainer.  Food shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost (employees are paid dirt, there can be environmental and inhumane penalties).  Clothes shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost beyond money.  I don't always remember to do the right thing.  I buy american apparel online (not that that's the only option, but just one example).

I will tell my opinion asal..



Cheap food, cheap clothing, cheap manufactured goods has lifted hundreds of millions of people around the world out of poverty..



My home country Taiwan, is now fully democratic and affluent and it began with cheap manufactures..



Flat screen TV's, pc's, tablets, camera's, smart phones are available to lower income Westerners because of low cost manufacturing..



It's been good for developing economies and good for working class consumers in the West like my family..



A win win formula..



John Oliver seems out of touch with reality like so many rich entertainers.

Oh I don't know about win win :/

[Anonymous]

Fash, I'll tell you my real opinion because this is an online forum with some distance.  I feel better buying from companies that pay their employees decently.  I'm not wealthy.  I'm not an entertainer.  Food shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost (employees are paid dirt, there can be environmental and inhumane penalties).  Clothes shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost beyond money.  I don't always remember to do the right thing.  I buy american apparel online (not that that's the only option, but just one example).

Oh ffs asal, no garment maker pays people a decent wage. It's like retail or janitorial work, it's a garbage job everywhere on the planet.



John Oliver is an ignorant hypocritical moron and intolerant of differing paths to development as Fash pointed out. Food, clothing, durable goods are much better off being cheap. Globalization and trade has meant a lot of people in the country of my birth are no longer hungry. Low cost manufacturing means people in my country of birth have an income. Low cost electronics  means illiteracy has just about been wiped out in my country. Cheap food, affordable clothing, low cost manufacturing as a result of globalization means people in my country have much longer life expectancies, lower infant mortality rates are better educated and have become consumers just like Westerners.



I'm sorry, but the kind the kind of elitism and stupidity that John Oliver spews is the most vile form of racism. He has zero tolerance for different cultures paths to the good life. As our former great leader Deng Xiao Ping used to say, it doesn't matter what colour the cat is as long as it catches mice.



BTW, AA DOES buy product from the third world countries and that WILL increase in the future. I'm afraid you have been duped if you buy Charney's BS claims.

[RW]

And when they pack up for cheaper pastures Shen?  Then what?

[Anonymous]

And when they pack up for cheaper pastures Shen?  Then what?

What happened in Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore when they lost their low end manufatures? They went further up the food chain. They are all wealthy, well-educated consumer societies with high levels of disposable income. The same thing is happening now in China. Garment shops are being shuttered in places like Guangdong province and either moving to cheaper places away from the coast in China or to less developed countries. It's a natural progression. Besides, educated locals in wealthy Chinese cities are not interested in monotonous, unskilled factory work and who can blame them for that.

[RW]

So what will happen to everyone working in said factories once it's all said and done?

[Anonymous]

So what will happen to everyone working in said factories once it's all said and done?

I'm glad you asked. My grandmother worked in an SOE sewing at one time. No tertiary education of course as that was frowned on at the time by Mao the murderer. Her daughter(my Mommy) graduated from university and never seen the inside of a factory in her life. Do you see where I am going here?

[RW]

You didn't answer my question.

[Anonymous]

This would have been a good topic for the Asian corner. There appears to be some cultural differences.



The Asian economic miracle has been achieved by starting at the bottom. And let's give credit, it has been very successful. Where I disagree with Shen and Fash is if this can be replicated in different countries with very different cultures. Would the Asian development formula work in Sri Lanka or West Africa? I hope so, but I am not confident of it. Maybe they need a different approach entirely from wither East or West. That will have to be up to them to decide.



In Korea, small factories are employed by foreigners. Koreans have a 3 D stigma. They won't do dirty, dangerous or difficult work anymore.

[RW]

3 D = cost = corps going to places where people have fewer standards.

[Anonymous]

3 D = cost = corps going to places where people have fewer standards.

Plus lower wages, plus access to ports and transport, plus relatively stable government plus a population willing to improve their lives. Do you ever wonder why Africa attracts next to investment in plant or technology. Why is it nearly always on the Asian continent? There is a reason and it is not what you may think it is.

[Anonymous]

3 D = cost = corps going to places where people have fewer standards.

You are saying Chinese were better off before we opened to foreign investment??  ac_wot  ac_wot

[Romero]

Nothing wrong with buying cheap clothes and not caring about boycotts, but I think it's important to understand that so many are working under terrible conditions.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with buying cheap clothes and not caring about boycotts, but I think it's important to understand that so many are working under terrible conditions.

What conditions were they working under before the plants moved into developing countries?

[asal]

Fash, I'll tell you my real opinion because this is an online forum with some distance.  I feel better buying from companies that pay their employees decently.  I'm not wealthy.  I'm not an entertainer.  Food shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost (employees are paid dirt, there can be environmental and inhumane penalties).  Clothes shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost beyond money.  I don't always remember to do the right thing.  I buy american apparel online (not that that's the only option, but just one example).

I will tell my opinion asal..



Cheap food, cheap clothing, cheap manufactured goods has lifted hundreds of millions of people around the world out of poverty..



My home country Taiwan, is now fully democratic and affluent and it began with cheap manufactures..



Flat screen TV's, pc's, tablets, camera's, smart phones are available to lower income Westerners because of low cost manufacturing..



It's been good for developing economies and good for working class consumers in the West like my family..



A win win formula..



John Oliver seems out of touch with reality like so many rich entertainers.

^I acknowledge that cheap manufacturing/food lifted people out of poverty - made food and cheap goods available to low income people and provides income.  My brain is strained fash  ac_smile  I will not acknowledge defeat.

1.  

It's been good for developing economies and good for working class consumers in the West like my family.

For working class consumers – it's unnecessary.  We can buy the same goods – often at the same price, most would argue that more expensively produced goods are more expensive – my argument is that it is affordable to me, and often competitively priced.  



2.

Cheap food, cheap clothing, cheap manufactured goods has lifted hundreds of millions of people around the world out of poverty.  My home country Taiwan, is now fully democratic and affluent and it began with cheap manufactures.

For developing economies – I would have to defer and agree as a shorthand.  



3.  

Flat screen TV's, pc's, tablets, camera's, smart phones are available to lower income Westerners because of low cost manufacturing.

This I appreciate.  I also think the cost of goods should be higher to reflect all true costs (environmental, human, governmental).  I'm not comfortable with electronics being priced so low – I appreciate it – but I could afford to pay more, and am willing to.  It's wonderful for our society that we can communicate so easily.  Communicating might be harder with less affordable access to electronics.



4.  

John Oliver seems out of touch with reality like so many rich entertainers.

I disagree.  :)

[asal]

Fash, I'll tell you my real opinion because this is an online forum with some distance.  I feel better buying from companies that pay their employees decently.  I'm not wealthy.  I'm not an entertainer.  Food shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost (employees are paid dirt, there can be environmental and inhumane penalties).  Clothes shouldn't be dirt cheap - it comes at a cost beyond money.  I don't always remember to do the right thing.  I buy american apparel online (not that that's the only option, but just one example).

Oh ffs asal, no garment maker pays people a decent wage. It's like retail or janitorial work, it's a garbage job everywhere on the planet.



John Oliver is an ignorant hypocritical moron and intolerant of differing paths to development as Fash pointed out. Food, clothing, durable goods are much better off being cheap. Globalization and trade has meant a lot of people in the country of my birth are no longer hungry. Low cost manufacturing means people in my country of birth have an income. Low cost electronics  means illiteracy has just about been wiped out in my country. Cheap food, affordable clothing, low cost manufacturing as a result of globalization means people in my country have much longer life expectancies, lower infant mortality rates are better educated and have become consumers just like Westerners.



I'm sorry, but the kind the kind of elitism and stupidity that John Oliver spews is the most vile form of racism. He has zero tolerance for different cultures paths to the good life. As our former great leader Deng Xiao Ping used to say, it doesn't matter what colour the cat is as long as it catches mice.



BTW, AA DOES buy product from the third world countries and that WILL increase in the future. I'm afraid you have been duped if you buy Charney's BS claims.

ha ha ha shen :)  I like your wording :)

no garment maker pays people a decent wage. It's like retail or janitorial work, it's a garbage job everywhere on the planet.

american apparel.  $12/hour + health care benefits and some other kinds of benefits.  It's crap - but not too bad considering/relative to similar jobs.



John Oliver :)  We disagree, leave it at that.  Deng Xiao Ping?  I'll go with Paul Martin "At a moment that comes rarely in the life of a country. It is a time when destiny is ours to hold."