Once again, this is another PSA on the advertisements that are seen on numerous sites and blogs. The ads, I am referring to, are for the very cheap Christian Louboutin shoes and other designer products.
However, this post is about more than those ads. It is about the counterfeit goods that many women are buying and wearing, (and this includes fake designer handbags, sorry ladies).
Everyone wants to own, at least one, designer item, have the latest accessory in fashion, and look as if you have it going on. However, let us get real. If you are working making minimum wage, wearing clothing from Rue 21 and shoes from Payless, ladies, there is no way anyone believes that that is a three thousand dollar purse on your shoulder.
(Sidebar: There is nothing wrong with either store that I have mentioned here. It is wise and reasonable to live within your means. Both stores offer great fashion items for a budget-minded woman who still wants to look great.) (Additionally, if that is truly a three thousand dollar purse and your rent hasn’t been paid, you are making minimum wage, and there is no food in your refrigerator; you may need to rethink your priorities).
If you have purchased a knock-off bag from a street vendor or at a party with the girls (knock-off handbag parties are growing in popularity), you may believe that no one is being hurt by your purchase or that only the designer themselves are the only ones being impacted. Consequently, you may conclude that the designer may already have enough money and really wouldn’t notice one less sell of their real goods. Well please consider these:
1) You are hurting our economy by purchasing those goods, because counterfeiting is directly responsible for the loss of more than 750,000 American jobs. Loss of jobs leads to loss of the spending that drives our economy. Also resulting are the losses of homes and net worth and so forth.
2) Also, there are the victims you have not considered and whom you have not been made aware. These are the children who are trafficked and forced to labor in dire conditions, to create those goods.
Consider the account of an investigator who, when they raided a factory in Thailand, found children younger then the age of ten with broken legs sitting on the floor assembling counterfeit handbags. Their legs had been broken by the owner to keep them from wanting to go outside.
There are even more accounts, on advocacy websites for the rights and freedom of children, where children are handcuff or chained to their work areas, or having their meals withheld and/or even beaten to produce these goods.
Still think know one really get hurt by your purchase of fake goods?
By NOT purchasing a counterfeit good you help not only the economy, but you spare a child from a life of hardship and heartache.
To find more information on this subject: Fakes Are Never Fashion
