Made in China

I walked up and down the entire seasonal isle at the CVS where a current display of Valentines blasts your eyeballs with pink and red, lifting each item to see where it was made, and everything comes from China! The entire isle!
I checked the clearance baskets of Christmas merchandise, such as wrapping paper, ribbons, and tags. Same thing! China!
We don't even need these things. The idea of a handmade valentine is so much more endearing than the cellophane offering at the drugstore.
I've been unaware and slack. I've been a partaker in all of this sedated consumption. My gift-giving will be more thoughtful going forward. While at the thrift store, I will snatch up second hand lace, ribbons, etc, that can be used for wrapping. I will make my own greeting cards.
Most important of all, I will speak it. I will bring this to the attention of others whenever I can. I will tell them how we our selling out the very foundation of the United States by consuming cheap, off shore goods, products, and services over those produced here.
By the mid 1950's we had accomplished so much in the way of child labor laws, food and drug oversight, fair wages, and onward into the 1970's with anti-discrimination laws and so on. Then what did we do? Ooh, let's get our goods cheaper from countries that can't afford to evolve. It didn't matter to us that a twelve year old made the sneakers we wore. We rationalized that without that job, the kid would probably starve anyhow. If this is a truth, why are we furious about the prospect of child labor abuse on our own soil?
The most ridiculous statement concerning this country's abuse of illegal immigrant labor is: "They are doing jobs nobody wants to do anyway" Give me a break! So it's ok exclude certain jobs from labor and wage standards as long as we can create the fear of deportation in desperate migrant workers? Nobody wants the jobs because they do not pay a living wage.
Now that I have gone from Valentines to national policy, I will close.

With Love,
Belle