Western nations are rapidly losing their manufacturing sectors at a great cost; part of the problem is the dominance and influence of large retailers. We are becoming dependent on international corporations that have their goods made in foreign countries. The consequences have proven to be devastating: domestic jobs are lost to foreign workers often suffering from horrendous working conditions and poor pay; we have been purchasing toxic imported goods; quality control of our products is left to large corporations intimately tied with corrupt governments such as China.
As the middle men, our mega corporate retailers are part of the problem of inflicting society with shoddy goods. These organizations demonstrate complacency and contempt for the general public. Profit and greed are their driving forces. Quality is their enemy; a durable, well made product means that it won’t soon be replaced, negatively affecting short term profits.
Don’t we have a right to access well made products created with pride in workmanship? Shouldn’t we take comfort in knowing that what we buy was produced by people paid fairly in good working conditions? How have we become so callous and selfish? What we need is a complete overhaul of our economic system. A country less dependent on trade, and one that begins to develop its own strong manufacturing base, is a country on the verge of self-sufficiency and strength. We have become too enthralled in a one world system on the verge of collapse due to the greed of a few powerful people in governments and big business. Large North American corporations are actually their own worst enemies; by eliminating jobs domestically, they are losing great numbers of consumers who can actually afford to buy their products. Greed. It’s not called a Deadly Sin for nothing. The workforce is not completely innocent either; if workers hadn’t demanded unreasonable wages in so many sectors through their unions, they might not have scared off their employers so quickly. It is mutual self-destruction.
One way we can get out of our economic conundrum would be to support and encourage small manufacturing businesses. Safe products with high quality could become in demand by consumers when compared to the junk that is available in large retail outlets. If we could buy goods that are actually made to last and not fall apart in a few weeks, we would more likely go back to the retailer that sold them; that option is being challenged by our present system.
Unfortunately there are tremendous obstacles to a domestic manufacturer surviving even just the first few months of business: firstly, large corporations in the retail business are not easily persuaded to sell the goods of such companies; secondly, domestically produced goods compete against cheap foreign counterparts that flood the market. By sheer massive inventories, mega retailers dominate their industry by selling at reduced rates. We have been conditioned to value quantity over quality. We jeopardize our economies, our health and our pride as independent nations. Imagine if countries developed strong manufacturing bases and focused more on their domestic market; employment would increase dramatically and we would all be less dependent on a global system run by a few powerful men. We need to again produce what we need at home and dramatically diminish imports.