One thought of why mfg left our shores, is that our unions demanded medical coverage, higher wages, more time off, shorter hours, etc. and they got them for us.
The owners of the mfg section to keep their profits the same, decided to move their companies to Mexico, China, and else where.. so we literally priced ourselves out of the market with our higher standard of living, and freedom of choice... We have to take part of the blame also because we have been buying the CHEAPER products over the years.

I think there are plenty of people in China who need help feeding their families too.

Protectionism is not the answer. There are plenty of poor countries who have an advantage in producing some crop or commodity and it is totally immoral for rich countries to deny them access to their markets because they want to protect their local jobs to produce the same thing at three times the cost.

Did anyone clock the word Pakistan in that? Does anyone think that if Pakistan had a better and more reliable income from what it can produce (like cotton) that there would be less support there for extremists? Now THAT would save money, and lots of more important things besides.

I say again- protectionsim is immoral and not in line with my morals. Free trade is the way (with social protections, which I do realise are absent form the textile industry in many respects, but let's work at getting that built in, instead of having a knee jerk reaction that everything should be produced wherever WE happen to be)

Have any of you ever been to a Third World country? They deserve a fair go. They don't want charity, they want access to world markets so they can earn their living and, yes, feed their families, just like we do.

Maybe someone can explain why Connecting Threads can charge so little for their American made fabric, and other companys charge more?

Thank you for sharing!

It's not American-made fabric. Once upon a time they did say that the cotton is grown in the US. I just looked at their website now, and cannot find even that anymore.

What I did find is on their "about us" page here: http://www.connectingthreads.com/cfh...4&CSItemID=204, and it talks about their international manufacturing partners:

"Our Manufacturing Partners

Connecting Threads has very high standards for the International manufacturers we choose to work with. Executives from Connecting Threads have visited each of our manufacturers' factories personally to ensure that their facilities and labor practices are in line with both Connecting Threads' and our customers' expectations. Specifically, Connecting Threads works only with manufacturers who:

Institute management practices that respect the rights of all employees
Provide a safe and healthy work place
Promote the health and well-being of all employees
Oppose the use of child labor
Have an active role in the positive development of their local community
"

Thanks for all the neat info :)

Actually, yes, I was just in Nicaragua this summer on a week-long mission trip where we helped run a camp for children whose families dig through the town dump to find recyclables that they can sell. http://www.thebridgegranada.org/mini...-dump-ministry

$5 a day there is considered a good wage. You're lucky if you can become a sugarcane worker and get that wage. If you work in a T-shirt factory you will probably earn $3 / day. That's a lot of work for not much money.

To tell you the truth I really don't know how much $5 will buy there as we never got to a typical local market. But apparently even those daily wages are worth working for.

Also, the worker's safety is just an afterthought in some places overseas

this makes me expecially glad I have such a huge stash - I can sew for years without using it all up... :)

Thanks for the info.