There's No Such Thing as a Free (Trade) Lunch

I walked into a hot, florescently lit warehouse packed with hundreds of people assembling my clothing. I watched as poorly clothed individuals packed up $90 North Face jackets knowing that they would only receive a third of that for the entire week. Each person there makes about $123 per month when they need $400 per month to support their families. However, this is one of the draws for investors; the low wages and lack of taxation. Free trade, especially in Central America, seems to promote a race to the bottom and we as members of the United States support this injustice whether we are aware of it or not.

This is not an actual picture from the factory, but looks very much like the place I visited

In the National Free Zones Commission flier they actually brag that they pay the lowest wages in all of Central America. They also advertise the law that gives investors exemption from all taxes…so Nicaragua does not benefit from the presence of these companies in their country, but it cuts costs for our big businesses in the US that have money to spare.

What can be done to change this? The system is so founded that it is basically out of the question to fundamentally change the entire system. This experience reinforced the feeling even more that this world is corrupt and structurally screwed up and I haven't figured out how to adapt to and function within this system in a productive manner. That's all I can do if I can't change it…adapt. But here is the problem I am facing:

While I am hurt by what I saw and heard at the National Free Zones Commission, they are providing a great number of jobs to impoverished people. They employ nearly 74,000 Nicaraguans who wouldn't be able to feed their families otherwise. So, if everyone stopped supporting the companies who take advantage of the Nicaraguan people, these individuals would lose their jobs. However, it is hard to justify supporting such institutions. 

Maybe the answer is to simply change our consumption patterns. Consumers are truly an untapped power in the US. We make the demands on the market. Right now we are telling them that we want our closets packed with the labels that take advantage of underdeveloped nations and not only that, but we want seventeen of each type of clothing. Why don't we start spending on only what we need and not necessarily on everything we want? Then maybe the structure would begin to change and the people I am living with every day can live their lives with a little more dignity and a little less difficulty.