Ad from Harper's Bazaar
I've always been against conterfeit designer bags, but after reading an article in the January issue of Harper's Bazaar I will take an active role in making sure people I know do not support this business.
"It is estimated that up to 7 percent of our annual world trade--$600 billion worth--is counterfeit or pirated; that fakes are believed to be directly responsible for the loss of more than 750,000 American jobs; that everything from baby formula to medicine is counterfeited, with tragic results; that counterfeiters and the crime syndicates they work with deal in human trafficking, child labor, and gang warfare; and that counterfeiting is used to launder money, and the money has been linked to truly sinister deeds such as terrorism... I recall the raid I went on with Chinese police in a tenement in Guangshou and what we discovered when we walked in: two dozen sad, tired, dirty children, ages 8 to 14, making fake Dunhill, Versace, and Hugo Boss handbags on old, rusty sewing machines." (Dana Thomas for Harper's Bazaar)
So if you're thinking about purchasing something fake, stop and consider the facts. Do you want to contribute to child labor abroad? Do you want to deprive American workers who are supposed to be protected by copyright of their hard-earned reward? Get real. Buy genuine goods. Support artists. Stay classy.
To learn more about Bazaar's Fight Against Fakes, click here.
2 comments:
You have to look at the bigger picture. Many Americans have lost jobs, but what about the people in those countries who didn't have jobs in the first place? People, especially children, are forced into these jobs because they can't get any other job. Children are taken out of school to work these jobs to support their families because no company can employ children with no education. The bigger problem is poverty and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. I'm not saying I support or don't support fake products, but when it comes down to it, some people have no other means of making money. You go to these countries, shop at the markets that sell these sort of products, and ask yourself why anyone would want this sort of job where they deal with stingy customers and bargaining every single day. It's because they have no other option. Yes, most of these countries have corrupt governments, but how would you fix the problem? How else are these people living in hellish poverty supposed to make money? No one is giving it to them. Find the solution in getting rid of poverty in these countries, and perhaps the problem of fake products will go away. The issue in this is way bigger than just fakes. Think about it.
I think you can agree that "finding the solution in getting rid of poverty" is much greater than one person, especially one who studies English at a private school in America. I personally don't know how to stop poverty or fix corrupt governments. But the problem of conterfeits doesn't end in third world countries where children need to work to support their families.
In America, where people are well off, people are stealing music and movies off the Internet instead of paying for CD's... simply because they can. Because of it, people who work behind the scenes (especially WRITERS) aren't getting their due credit.
Buying a designer purse instead of buying a fake won't stop child labor, but why continue to support something once you realize the truth behind it?
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