tayloline29 t1_ix8ss15 wrote on November 21, 2022 at 5:02 PM

Reply to comment by ComprehensiveRow4189 in How do you find out whether companies manufacture their products morally and sustainably? by Dokayn

Most manufacturing in the US is done through legalized slavery, it's made by people in prison paid 25 cents on the dollar, so if it says made in the US it was 9 times out of 10 made using legalized slavery. Also almost nothing is actually made in the US. The parts are manufactured in factories and sweatshops in south east Asia and sent to the USA to be assembled likely by people in prison or by job training programs for disabled people (that are exploitive and pay under minimum wage). Loads and loads of made in the US brands use this loophole so they can plaster made in the US their goods.

The marketing strategy, "made in the US", was concocted some in the mid 90s in an effort to quell the public anger towards the use of sweat shop labor. The made in the US tag was there to ensure the consumer that these are high quality good, not made in inhumane conditions and people bought and buy that lie hook line and sinker.

So looking for stuff made in the US doesn't really tell you much.

The slogan and marketing campaign were and are meant to

Fruitndveg t1_ix9pu6v wrote on November 21, 2022 at 8:40 PM

Your point is valid but ‘most’ is an enormous exaggeration.

ComprehensiveRow4189 t1_ixa64fs wrote on November 21, 2022 at 10:31 PM

I buy a lot of stuff made in Europe, like tops, jeans, socks, notebooks etc. The made in US brands I've bought from (No Mes, TiSurvival, Hanks, DecentExposures, Ashland) don't use any prison labour.

Available-Subject-33 t1_ixbu7rq wrote on November 22, 2022 at 7:10 AM

This is very far from "most" companies in the US lol

tayloline29 t1_ixccqyb wrote on November 22, 2022 at 11:25 AM

A non comprehensive list of the companies that fall under a regulatory body and are known to use prison labor.

IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom’s, Revlon, Macy’s, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores

While a small percentage of prison labor lies within one specific federally-regulated program, the vast majority exists in state, federal, and private prisons that have no centralized regulatory body. Prison labor is pervasive in the United States penal system, but the extent to which that labor is used to supply American corporations with goods and services is shrouded in secrecy.

Available-Subject-33 t1_ixe14j2 wrote on November 22, 2022 at 7:03 PM

Except most of the companies you listed aren't ones that tout around "Made In The USA."

Go to a shopping center and look around for products that proudly display a Made In The USA tag on their packaging. You'll find that most of them are products from smaller businesses that focus on a select range of products, not giant megacorporations like Microsoft. They're generally more expensive, higher quality, and better designed.