I Never Bought Levi's That Didn't Say "Made In The U.S.A.

I grew up in a time when it was not only possible but affordable to dress yourself in clothing made by unionized American workers. It was just a thing, nobody thought twice about it. And when I got my first job, I bought Levi Jeans which were union-made in the U.S.A. After all, why shouldn’t the people who make our clothes earn a decent living?

Then came a day when I saw on the news that Oshkosh B’gosh was closing its plant in Wisconsin and was going to manufacture in Mexico. This didn’t concern me over much because they mainly made children’s cloths, but I remember the shock and anger of the workers they interviewed who would be losing their jobs.

It really hit me when Levi’s announced that they too were closing down operations in the U.S.A. and shipping operations elsewhere. I proudly continued to where the jeans I owned that had the Made In U.S.A. label on them, but I never again bought another pair of Levi’s. It’s foolish to show loyalty to those who are incapable of loyalty themselves.

Then before you knew it, every clothing manufacturer was closing up shop in the United States and moving overseas. I recall news programs covering this phenomena and how it not only hurt American workers but relied on near-slave labor in other countries.

Of course, while the truth of the way the workers were treated could not be denied, the news segments were always certain to have some economist or business executive on to explain why this was not only necessary but beneficial to our country and the world at large. They told us that American workers were destined for bigger and better things. And that while the workers in other countries were paid barely subsistence wages, this was no different than how things had occurred in the United States. They were starting the climb up the economic ladder and they would have to start at the bottom, just as we had. But in starting this climb they would soon elevate themselves so that everyone in their country would achieve the same kind of wealth Americans had achieved. It was merely the first step that would be the difficult one.

I felt in my gut that this was a lie, that there was no reason ever to treat people like slaves, to allow young girls to work long hours and then dismiss them when they had outlived their usefulness. But the people on the TV were so calm and certain in their arguments. They were the experts and I was just a kid fresh out of high school who knew nothing of the world and the way it worked. I knew in my heart they were wrong but because I could not match their arguments with sufficient facts, I did not speak out as loudly as I should have. And for a long time I simply ceased to worry so much about where my clothes come from. There are so many issues to deal with in life and, for a time, this one has taken a lesser place in mine. But I have still never bought a pair of Levi’s.

Time has born out my concerns. The United States continues to export its work and the people doing the work are still working for slave wages. For the most part, our clothes are still made in places where union organizers are murdered and workers earn nothing compared to what American workers once made. It turns out the people who sold this economic lie were nothing but sociopaths that placed the wealth they stood to make by supporting such a system over the welfare of their fellow men and women. And still the apologists are to be found on the media, spewing out their rationalizations for how worker exploitation is a good thing for Americans and the rest of the world.

But now the truth has hit home to a bunch of blue-collar Americans, who are feeling the pinch of thirty years of job-exportation. The pain they are feeling can not be explained away by the so-called experts who are really nothing more than spokespersons for the interests of multi-national corporations. These people are angry and are looking for someone who will speak up for them. More than anything, they’re looking for anyone who’s willing to call bullshit on the lies that have been fed them by the “experts” all these many years. And those who are still listening to the experts, who’ve not seen their jobs shipped overseas, well they have little interest in the problems of the people who's way of life has disappeared.

Enter a new set of authority figures. They’re willing to tell those who’ve lost their jobs, who live in communities with shuttered factories, that they’ve been screwed over and they have every right to be angry. They point the blame overseas to the people and nations that now do the work Americans once proudly did.

Unfortunately, this new set of spokespersons are working for the same interests the old set of spokespersons did, they’re just putting a different spin on things. It wasn’t poor people from other countries who took our jobs. Corporations had a choice, and they chose to ship your jobs overseas for greater profits. They figured out it was cheaper to bribe politicians here and overseas, pay influential experts to pedal their narrative, and ship merchandise all across the globe, than it was to pay decent wages to the workers who produced them.

People have a right to be angry. But be smart angry. If you’re listening to talking heads who get rich spinning the story the way the corporate bosses want it told, you’re being stupid angry, and that is a very dangerous combination. Those people overseas working long hours for subsistence wages are not your enemies, they’re being used the same way you were. They’re suffering more than you, don’t make their lives any worse by blaming the victims. Because when you blame other victims, you are no longer worthy of anyone’s sympathy.

And for God’s sake, buy responsibly. It takes a little extra effort and a little extra expense, but it’s the right thing to do. Start small, but start.