Free Trade Economics

In the immense consumer culture that we live in right now, everything boils down to supply and demand. The United States is the biggest fat kid when it comes to its consumption of goods, services, and information. With the higher standard of living and the obsession of finding a good bargain, the demand always exceeds the supply. Our culture is always in need of feeding, with an unhealthy obsession of getting the newest or biggest item available. This then only creates for the manufacturer or provider their own need to try and satiate this hunger while still making the largest profit that they can. And that is when the goods and services from other countries come into play. When people basically have few rights and live in unimaginable conditions compared to how we live, huge corporations have the power to exploit these people. Paying very little money for 18-hr days, 7 days a week, these corporations have found a way to keep American consumers satisfied while also turning huge profits for themselves.

But some say that American capitalism is the answer, that that is the reason Americans have the highest standard of living and the United States is the lone superpower. It is not the free trade that is at fault, but rather the developing nations' governments who aren't providing the necessary means for their people to transcend poverty. And there certainly is truth to this. Nations such as China and Korea have a history of giving their people few rights, keeping them in the dark so as to keep those who rule with all the power. Also, the United States is the wealthiest nation, with its people living with rights and the ability to acquire wealth through hard work.

When huge, multinational corporations though exploit the poor as means to greater wealth, one has to wonder why we, people of the United States, haven't done anything about this. There have been countless stories of sweat shops across the world being employed by businesses and yet it always seems to be swept under the rug. Why? Let's face it, we love to buy goods at low prices. There is a sort of weird satisfaction when we find a bargain price for those jeans or that wicked stereo system. We aren't thinking of the people who made those items or how awful their lives are, instead what goes through are minds are do those jeans make me look fat?

Frankly I am among the millions who like to buy things at cheap prices. I am a college student struggling to pay bills and I know how good it feels when I can buy goods without breaking the bank. But my struggle is nothing compared to what millions of people around the world have to live with everyday. I don't know what's right, I certainly don't know a solution for this problem, but it seems to me that more people in our country could do a little less of blind consumption and first think about who the purchasing of this item is really benefitting: the worker or the million dollar industry?