Offsourcing in Daily Life

The Products:
- Spiral bound notebook: Made in India
- Nivea chapstick: Made in Germany
- Adidas soccer Jacket: Made in Vietnam
- McMahon sweatpants: Made in the Honduras
- McMahon Tshirt: Made in Haiti
- Lancome eye brightener: Made in the USA
- Sister's Watch: Made in China
- Folder: Made in the USA
- Remote: Made in Mexico
- Composition notebook: Made in the USA
- Walkie Talkie: Made in China
- Coaster: Made in China
- Abercrombie sweater: Made in China
- Mug: Made in Morocco
- Dove deodorant: Made in the USA
- Boots styling mousse: Made in the UK
- Elizabeth Arden perfume: Made in the USA

It is clear that as a typical household in the United States, we as a whole opt to buy foreign made goods on a daily basis instead of "buying American". 70% of the items I have recorded are manufactured abroad. I was surprised (and pleased) to learn that a large majority of my cosmetics were made in the USA, but most of the clothing I looked at were made as a result of offshoring. Chances are that some poverty-stricken citizen desperate for a job worked under awful conditions to make my new sweatpants or English notebook that I write in every day. Because of their need for a job, it is possible that a child who may have been working in that factory will never need a notebook like mine because he or she won't have the opportunity to get an education. Instead, these people are working tirelessly for little pay. If we in the United States are facing great levels of unemployment and a recession, why are we giving jobs to those in other countries when we need them at home? Not to mention, the jobs that are sent abroad are put under dangerous conditions that employees have to deal with because they have little other choice. This is a no win situation. If the United States is suffering from a lack of jobs internally, we should improve from the inside out. Although offshoring reduces costs, if there are no jobs at home nobody will be able to afford these products. I think that we as a nation should make a conscious effort to buy American made products. Putting low-class workers from abroad in danger in order to lower personal costs is detrimental to their well-being in addition to our nation's economy due to the decreasing availability of jobs at home.