School Case

"Americans used to be 'citizens.' Now we are 'consumers."- Vicki Robin. Consumed by consuming we have blinded ourselves. Not taking a moment to stop and think, where all these things we have are coming from. And if we did realize where all this stuff these material things like shoes, iPods, phones and clothing we have are coming from would we care? Television, magazines, billboard's advertisements all around us selling and enticing us to buy buy buy! This entire urge to consume is taking its toll on workers and we need to open our eyes.

American has a reputation for being one the most powerful countries in the world, but in the end this great country of ours cant own up to its name. The corporations and business men who work for America are the ones giving it a bad rap. There's a reason the things we have and use in our everyday lives say made in China, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan etc. It's not because these companies who make our products want to help other countries make money and help the planet. It's because in these other countries the cost of living is so much lower than here in America and there labor laws aren't at the same level as ours. So they ship out to foreign places, so that companies like Nike can get away with abusing their workers. Nike and all the other businesses that export to other countries are caring about one thing and one thing only their pockets. So what they do is pay these foreign people beyond low wages to make our one hundred dollar shoes and products. According to Global exchange "in 1996, Nike was not even paying their Indonesian workers the minimum wage" the minimum age in America is about $7.67 an hour. In