GPSGuided wrote:Discriminating gears based purely on the country of manufacture is misguided. There are plenty of quality gears coming out of those developing countries these days. Time have changed, extremely rapidly.
simonm wrote:What type of fabrics are you after? I can possibly source them or at least point you in the right direction to overseas suppliers.
GPSGuided wrote:Discriminating gears based purely on the country of manufacture is misguided. There are plenty of quality gears coming out of those developing countries these days. Time have changed, extremely rapidly.
Bogong Moth wrote:I realise I wasn't clear in the original post. I have no issue with quality of items coming out of developing countries, but I prefer to purchase items made by people paid a fair living wage if at all possible.
undercling-mike wrote:Back to the question on fabrics, what sort of fabrics are you looking for? Or what sort of items are you looking to make?
GPSGuided wrote:Bogong Moth wrote:I realise I wasn't clear in the original post. I have no issue with quality of items coming out of developing countries, but I prefer to purchase items made by people paid a fair living wage if at all possible.
On this, did you know that despite the stories of child labour and poor wages, the move from an agricultural to manufacturing economy has raised the economic and living standards of those developing countries as a whole? The solution is not a blanket boycott from those countries if those are the concerns but to pressure specific entities for improvement. Without this process, those countries will forever be stuck in a poor agricultural society with no opportunities. Think of GB being not allowed to go through its industrial revolution. The valid reason to not buy from those countries is a desire to 'help' our local manufacturing economy, but that's a lost cause.
Bogong Moth wrote:GPSGuided wrote:Bogong Moth wrote:I realise I wasn't clear in the original post. I have no issue with quality of items coming out of developing countries, but I prefer to purchase items made by people paid a fair living wage if at all possible.
On this, did you know that despite the stories of child labour and poor wages, the move from an agricultural to manufacturing economy has raised the economic and living standards of those developing countries as a whole? The solution is not a blanket boycott from those countries if those are the concerns but to pressure specific entities for improvement. Without this process, those countries will forever be stuck in a poor agricultural society with no opportunities. Think of GB being not allowed to go through its industrial revolution. The valid reason to not buy from those countries is a desire to 'help' our local manufacturing economy, but that's a lost cause.
This is not really what I wanted to discuss on this thread, but as you brought it up I'll very briefly reply. This is partially a conscience vote on my part. I do not want to purchase clothes which have been created by people that have worked forced overtime or seven days a week (par for the course in a lot of these places, particularly during peak seasons), and who usually get paid 1 or 2% of the wholesale price of the garment, which is substantially less than what it costs to feed a family. I do not want to purchase jeans that have been given that worn look by sandblasted in ways that result in silicosis (and yes, this is a genuine problem). I simply don't want to be complicit in that sort of treatment of people when I have a choice about it, much less so that the T-shirt that I might choose to buy is the cheapest (in relative terms) that it ever has been in history. My 'boycotting' (as you put it- more a preference) is not going to make a substantial difference either way because it's just me. However I want to be able to sleep at night. I could talk a lot more about the benefits and disadvantages of globalisation for the less well-off in the world, the effectiveness to date of pressuring retailers and manufacturers into improving practices, etc. but I really don't believe this is the correct forum for it. Thanks.
Bogong Moth wrote:undercling-mike wrote:Back to the question on fabrics, what sort of fabrics are you looking for? Or what sort of items are you looking to make?
I would like to make some very simple waterproof overpants for the children in my extended family, a simple mid-thigh waterproof jacket for myself, some ski leggings for myself.
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