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With the ongoing depression of wages in the developed world, most people don't have the luxury to "shop ethically." Hell, in many product categories, buying loc
by FussyZeus 7y ago
With the ongoing depression of wages in the developed world, most people don't have the luxury to "shop ethically." Hell, in many product categories, buying local is just not an option at all.
For decades Capitalism has pushed manufacturing jobs overseas first and into the arms of robots second, and also robots overseas for double savings. In those same decades, more and more of the wealth has been concentrated in the super-rich, while the middle class has struggled to continue to exist in any meaningful way. Regular people are satiated with cheaper and cheaper products made in overseas markets, but there's still an overwhelming sense of "broke" permeating societies in the developed world.
Eventually the rich are going to have to be willing to let some of the money flow back into larger society, if for no other reason than there will be no more consumers for even their cheapest of goods. This problem goes double as China continues it's rapid industrialization, and begins ascending itself to where it's labor is no longer cheap enough, and capitalism now turns its gaze to even less developed countries for cheap manufacturing. But, this activity itself is what causes industrialization and the rise in cost of labor; and there are a finite number of countries.
As usual though no capitalists are thinking in long term goals. Just get the money now, the most you can now, right now, before the whole thing goes toppling over.
- agumonkey 7y agoI understand, and I'd ask no one with financial struggles to make more efforts. Even the people that could buy ethical don't do. The previous century dilluted some important links between people and created a bit too much of a race to the bottom.
- FussyZeus 7y ago> Even the people that could buy ethical don't do. Because it's exhausting, and it's made to be that way on purpose. Brands within brands within brands, shell companies within shell companies, producers selling to distributors selling to distributors selling to distributors. Forget shopping ethically, I think most people would be hard pressed to tell you where anything they've bought, regardless of prior thought, actually came from.