We Hold the Key for Change!

The two articles we read and the website all focus on the issues of sweatshops, the problems, solutions, and ways to regulate them. Something that stood out to me in the readings and in the website was that saying, "WE HOLD THE KEY TO BE A CATALYST FOR POSITIVE CHANGE." Many people say that we should just boycott the situation all together and stop purchasing items that were made in sweatshops and without laws - but what we should really do is take the advice from the websites, not the readings. A better solution would be to do what the Fair Labor Association does and regulate it, especially with something like FLA 3.0. Finn begins his articles telling us to "think again" and realize that we have other choices to make besides buying from sweatshops. He gives us the example of buying a hat that was not made abroad, saying that it is a much better choice to make and will last longer and protect humans - if we "buy non-sweatshop." He makes the argument that as humans in the states we have a lot of power to change this - in that we can refuse to buy the things made abroad and unfairly. He also says that we would be gaining some extra costs as consumers at first, but in the long run the benefits would outweigh the costs: 

1. We would stop the export of jobs 

2. The people in third world countries would benefit 

3. We would stop the low wage problem. 

Likewise Roddick makes the same argument about stopping buying products made unfairly. I was especially astonished by her comment that people were having to sell their blood plasma for extra money because the wages were so low. She argues that our products are being protected but humans themselves are not and she wants us to change this. I agree with both authors that this is unfair and is should not be this way, but honestly what could be the better choice. What happens if we stop buying these products all together? It is a good example and lets face it, we all know child labour, sweatshops, unfair wages, over worked and underpaid are UNFAIR and should not be allowed to continue - BUT WHAT DO YOU DO? We all know that something needs to change, but I don't think the best way about it is to stop buying things all together. I feel that if we did that it would follow the same bad path that the Disney example in the reading showed - that it is a good idea not to buy, but it creates a bad situation for the workers - what will they do, they will have no money and no job and will be much worse off. So I think the best solution would be to REGULATE the work and give them better opportunities and benefits. If the situation is controlled everyone will benefit in the end and a rag we buy from wal-mart will not be symbolic of the sweat, tears, and labor that went into making it. WE HAVE THE KEY FOR CHANGE!