When I was at Union Theological Seminary, a fellow student of mine was a founder of a nonprofit, Educating for Justice, which pointed out the injustices at Nike factories in Third World countries. (You can see their documentary here.)
I admit I was ignorant up until then, that workers in Third World countries make the clothes and products we buy at cheap prices, in terrible, debilitating conditions, for pittance wages. Workers do their work, as we have seen, in structurally unsound buildings. Workers at these factories live short lives because they are exposed to harmful chemicals. Workers in these factories make something like 14 cents a day, or $12 a month, which is not enough to live on. What they earn does not even approach a living wage, yet the CEOs of these businesses enjoy million-dollar salaries annually. Workers in these factories do not enjoy the right to unionize: would-be union leaders are disappeared or killed outright.
In a sense, the plight of these workers is due, in part, to U.S. labor laws. If companies could get away with stuff like that in America, they would. In my daily life, it is too easy for me to forget this, until news stories puncture my consciousness again.
To be honest, I don't know where my clothes or shoes, come from. The “Made in China” stamp seems everywhere and it is also a commentary that we, in the United States, consume items, food, and clothing from all over the world. It is a mark of our empire.
Even further, unless I shop at a place like Huckleberry's or Trader Joe's, I have no idea where the food I eat comes from, or what it has in it, in terms of genetically modified ingredients (GMO). Part of the illegal immigration debate has to do with who picks fruit in America, and what protections they ought to have or not.
To be honest, I do most of my clothes shopping at thrift stores: A) because I hate shopping for clothes, it's just another way for me to feel bad about my body most days; and B) let's face it, I'm broke. So, the short answer to the question is no: the disasters have not changed the way I shop. I have, however, paid attention to which companies have signed declarations to improve their workers' working conditions. I wonder if Wal-Mart shoppers care?
If we asked, “Whom does this harm?” or “In whose oppression am I participating with this product?” every time before we ate something, or wore something, or bought something, and we cared about the answer enough to change our participation in the oppression, this world would be a profoundly different place.
