Sweat Shops – Is saving money really worth it?

After reading chapter two of Global Issues, Local Arguments, I find myself somewhat appalled at the choices society makes. Free trade is basically controlled by the large corporations who are able to make goods for a cheap rate. For other companies trying to compete with the large corporations, they must produce goods at a cheap rate in order to stay in business and many probably do it by any means. Yes, I agree that free trade is good in the sense that it makes everything cheaper, because as a consumer I love to buy things at a cheap price. Consumed with saving money, we often forget to stop to think how the goods we buy were made. As consumers, we always want to buy things that are cheaper in order to save money. Is saving money really worth it though? Peter S. Goodman gives us a clearer picture about what it is like to work in a sweat shop with its workers “living in rat-infest dormitories and being cheated out of their earnings.” As humans, it’s our nature to be somewhat selfish, but I cannot help to imagine if I was working in those sweat shops. Although I would be grateful to have a job, I would probably be angry at the consumers around the world that choose to allow my well-being suffer for some cheap materialistic goods that will eventually be thrown away. If some of the richest countries in the world would stop being so cheap, then maybe those who make our goods could have better working conditions. If Americans will not work in those sorts of conditions, then why is it okay for other people to? We are all a part of the human race living in the same goal, to live a good life in the world. Why should we make it harder for others just to make it easier for ourselves?