You know that “super cheap” deal you are going to go look for the day after Thanksgiving? Well the reason that product is so cheap is because most of the costs of creating that product have been “outsourced.” You don’t pay health care costs for the workers that made the product, because they don’t get health care. They are taking the hit so you can get a cheaper TV. Same is true for dental, optical, retirement, etc. The people who made your TV don’t get any of that stuff, so you get the TV cheaper.

They also pay the environmental costs. You don’t pay to make sure that the TV maker doesn’t dump poison into the local water supply for the people that make those TV’s. You don’t pay to make sure that the TV factory doesn’t pump pollution into the air. In fact you don’t even pay to clean up the TV once it is done being used.

They also pay the human costs. Poor working conditions. Forced work, sweat shops, slavery. Starvation, horrific injuries, etc. You wont buy the TV if it costs 10 dollars more, so the workers work 15 hour shifts with no food.

All of these things cost money, and when you get that cheap TV you are not paying any of them. The entire cost has been put onto the shoulders of the workers in these places making this stuff. What happens when the poor downtrodden people of these areas can no longer shoulder such a burden? What happens when they scrap together enough money to become a middle class and no longer want to live in such poverty?

(Via AIDG)