Many people in Decatur stay blind to what goes on in the factories that make their clothing. Mass production fails to consistently follow ethical standards, causing people in other countries work to make a living in horrific situations.

Companies need to stop their ways of exploiting people’s rights. People deserve livable wages. While someone shops for that $15 T-shirt at their favorite store, a woman likely makes another and might even suddenly faint from their lack of nutrition, according to multiple reports.

A study presented by UNITE, or the Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees, reports that hourly wages in a regulated factory in China estimate as low as 28 cents. People in America fail to sustain themselves on wages much higher than that, so why not increase the wages for people in other countries?

According to news companies that investigated this, including The New York Times and The Guardian, the conditions in these workplaces give gruesome symptoms to people in the factories. Reports on people working with these low wages fainting from the chemicals or even just not supporting themselves with a decent diet continue to rise. This proves why America needs to involve itself.

People who work legally in the United States need not worry about these things. If the United States chooses to sustain itself, a lot of unethical work practices eventually halt and many problems disappear overseas. In other countries the number of people forced into labor decreases as many new opportunities in immigration and business become conceivable. Although it greatly benefits the American economy, many people die working in the garment industry. Terrible health conditions rise among workers in these factories and the low wages continue. 

As students in a first world country, the awareness of where cute jeans or beautiful jewelry originated becomes a necessity.

Hit the thrift shops or shop American sourced goods, just remember what someone went through just to make a single T-shirt.