what we can do as consumers to prevent sweat shops

After reading chapter 2 of Global Issues, Local Arguments, I have to say that I feel disgusted and angry at our society! Have we as Americans sunk so low as to willingly by clothes at stores such as Walmart, The Gap, and Old Navy while knowing that places such as these take advantage of laborers by paying them what we consider merely pocket change, placing them in unsafe and hazardous working conditions, and demanding unreasonable hours of work without compensation? It seems the answer to that is...Yes. I know that there are people out there who honestly have no idea that the things they buy and the stores they go to use sweat shops. But there are also people out there who hear rumors of such things but don't bother to research it to find out if it's true. They simply blow off the rumors and keep on shopping at where they want to shop because they like those stores and they've always shopped there. They convince themselves that they know nothing about the company using sweat shops so that their conscious can be clean. I mean, it's all just rumor anyways right? It might not be true. But this scenario is exactly the problem with us consumers! When an issue, as profound as sweat-shop labor is brought up, we shouldn't ignore it just because we don't know if it's true. We are morally obligated to find out if it's true. People's lives are what's at stake here. You might think that it's a little over-kill to say that people's lives are at stake, but is it? The book pointed out incidents where workers were maimed or killed on the job due to the removal of safety guards, which were only removed in order to increase production in order to meet the consumer demands. So yes, lives are at stake. But we can put an end to this or at least make the situation better! I, along with most other people whole heartedly believe that consumer habits of developed nations drive the global competition of corporations. This means that powerful countries such as ours are one of the main causes to the problems. We encourage this type of impermissible behavior by continuing to buy goods made from sweat shops. The only way to end this oppression is to change our consumer habits. The book stated that there is still confusion on how to change consumer habits. Should we "boycott abusive companies, deamand coporate accountability, buy only union-made goods, and be willing to pay higher prices for goods to ensure fair wages for workers?" Ideally the answer should be yes to all these things. But realistically speaking, not everyone may be in a situation or be willing to resort to such extreme measures. So instead, just do your part to try and prevent the continuance of sweat shops by being an informed consumer at the stores you shop at. I know it's hard to do. It might mean never buying another outfit from The Gap even though you love their fall collections; I do too. But remember that as a consumer, you have the "power to influence the improvement of factory conditions around the world." And now may your conscious be truly clean.