this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023
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The companies put the products in front of you, but the consumers made the decision to abandon domestically made goods.
The consumer, through their productivity being siphoned off, has seen significant stagnation in terms of their real wage compared to the standards of living enjoyed by the post-war industrialized working class. This stagnation has lead to more price conscious consumers, who by necessity shop for the cheapest product available, which is available through these outsourced companies. Walmart was the biggest example. Many people had no choice on where they could afford to shop, which allowed Walmart to gain market dominance and force out less vertically integrated and violently anti-worker competition, leaving entire communities void of meaningful choice.
To put the blame for what was a multi-decade, multi trillion dollar open secret, on the workers seems wrong to me. What choice does someone making $7.25/hr (the minimum wage since 2009…) have in where they shop? They buy what they can, as they always have.
When these companies started moving their manufacturing, a choice could be made to buy domestically. That continued lack of discernment by the consumer compounded the problem. Everyone happily shopped at the big stores, watching their local shops dry up around them. Luckily these days I think people are starting to make the choices we all should have been making this entire time, and I find sustainably made / eco, zero waste plastic free, domestic products in every category at most supermarkets. It's also very easy with online retail to avoid Chinese rubbish and buy US/UK/EU made products for everything. It's 100% possible with some intentionality, financial literacy and self control to ethically consume while not being loaded. I do it. I'm not American though, Americans need to do something about every part of their society it seems.
Wages in the US haven’t grown since the 80s. The rise of big box Walmart stores was about a decade into that. Maybe where you are people had a choice, but here, people were already years into stagnation.
That's just symptomatic of Americans inability to advocate for themselves, either in the workplace or by what they buy. When Americans should have been unionizing and buying local, they were blissfully filling their houses with plastic crap and voting poorly. Also, small but important distinction; wages have grown as well as quality of life, just not in line with productivity.
I get it but I hate putting responsibility on the consumer beyond having a little personal responsibility. Especially when we are at a point where it's nearly entirely unavoidable to exist ethically in the west. The next 10 items you touch will almost certainly have some exploited foreign labor involved at some point in the process either entirely or components of the item or the packaging. Probably every item you touch today.
I think it would have happened regardless
Well the responsibility is on the consumer, I know it's scary, but every person has a responsibility to make moral choices, like avoid exploitative foreign made products, buying nationally produced foods etc. Obviously it will never be 100%, but that is no reason to just shrug all responsibility in defeat. Change is slow. I manage pretty well with not much money to buy products from US/UK/EU nations, buy mostly local or ethically sourced foods. Does it mean I don't get to have some things? Maybe, but that's the choice most people seem unable to make. Luckily the market is correcting for this consumer desire for more ethical products, and my local supermarkets all have products in that vein in every category.
A decade ago, these companies used loopholes to keep telling us everything was still made in America.
This is the crux of any analysis based on personal choice. It comes with the arrogant presumption that capitalism is based on consent.
Fine print fuckery is always a thing, how often do you see big bold 'Made in America!!! (with Canadian steel, assembled in Mexico)' or similar on packaging.
Made in Germany is my favorite (they named a district in China "Germany")
Ok, so continue to make the most immediately expedient choice for your personal circumstances with no regard for the wider impact of your actions and hope the Government will just elegantly and efficiently legislate our way out of our rapid and inevitable civilisational decline. It'll be great. We can just blame the corporations!
No, they didn't. Consumers just bought what was put on the shelves with the lower price tag. It wasn't a geopolitical decision for the common man.
That's the decision. They made a decision there, to buy the cheaper product without thought of the consequences. We continue to pay for the average consumer's lack of discretion.
Yeah how dare people not be able to afford to patriotically buy more expensive out of love of their fellow working man‽
They can afford it.