I know... you're thinking about stopping.
But if you're at this paragraph by now, you might be curious. So I'll get on with it. Nate and I stumbled upon the documentary 'Death by China' on Netflix. It was shocking. I'm about to get preachy about it, but you HAVE to see it. Seriously.
Basically it documents the communist Chinese government (NOT it's citizens) and the immoral economic manufacturing practices. For starters, it's disturbing to see how children and the environment are most negatively affected by the government and how North America's relationship with them is spiraling out of control. But, it made me sick after seeing it and I can't get it off my mind. There are NO current laws on Chinese imports meaning every dollar that you spend on stuff MADE IN CHINA is going to their corrupt and ruthless government who use it to do too many scary things to talk about in one blog post. But one of which is worth mentioning. They pour OUR CASH into building their military in pursuit of domination. Yah - GLOBAL domination. I'm not over exaggerating.
What's worse is, after seeing it, Nate and I went shopping the next day partly because the poor boy needs some new duds, but also just to test this movie. How hard would it be to purchase something without seeing the words Made in China on it? Like really... I had my doubts. Turns out, it was near impossible. Almost every single solitary item had these words marked somewhere. I'M NOT KIDDING! In fact, I can almost guarantee you that at least one of the items of clothing you are currently wearing was made in China by someone under the age of 10 and that worked a 12 hour day in a disgustingly dirty and unkept warehouse and then went home to a shack that locals nicknamed 'another cancer village' because of the horrible pollution. This is unacceptable.
We even went to some well know 'Canadian' companies and the majority of the pieces were from China!!! It was honestly scary. I could barely find even one item that wasn't made there in some of the stores that I thought were tried and true. How could a 'Canadian' company (that I will not name in this post) call themselves Canadian when the majority of the work and labour and composition is done in China? It's like saying: "I want to bake my Grandma's bread. But wait, I could actually get HER to do it and not thank her or pay her any money for it and then I could resell it for a big profit at my kid's school bake sale and claim that I did it all by myself! 100% family recipe made by me. Oh, Grandma has been placed in a horribly unsafe environment for the majority of the day and night and is being threatened with various punishments if she doesn't keep making the bread for free? No, those are just rumours. I refuse to believe it. I'm still good. It's all still good. There is a profit and everything is fine. Grandma is fine.
Evil.
But it isn't just clothes! It's EVERYTHING! Like I mean everything. Your microwave, your phone, your t.v, ALL of the electronic stuff in your car, your baby toys, your underwear, your bra, your shoes! YOUR BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL SHOES!!! I know. My heart is breaking too.
Now, this doesn't mean I'm going to run out and find every item in my house that is Made in China and burn it. I would literally have very little left. But I AM going to support and invest more of my money into Canadian companies and even American such as: Mac, Marks Work Warehouse, LaCanadienne (look at their shoes, you will DIE), just to name a few pure bred Canadian shops that actually manufacture their stuff. Yes, sometimes it can be more expensive and now I know why, but I now know it's worth it. I'm also going to check labels. I do it when I eat food and I'm going to do it when I shop. I'm going to look and see what are countries and governments that are fair in their practices and purchase from those that I know are safe.
Prior to seeing this movie, I really didn't get it. I also admittedly chose to look the other way and/or ignore when I heard anything about overseas manufacturing or the dangers of China. I simply called ignorance. Honestly, I thought it was because those people and the media were being racist. I wanted to SUPPORT those countries by buying their products, but I was so so sooooo wrong. With the Christmas season right around the corner I will try my hardest to purchase from the small businesses and local groceries, online websites such as Etsy where you can find adorable and beautiful handmade items. I'll do this to support proper treatment of others, the environment and encourage our county's economy to grow - not the dictators of another.
Watch the movie, do some research and buy local. You will have an impact.
There, that's the rant.
Also, if I go missing you'll know to find me in a prison somewhere in the far east.
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