300 Word Story

It seems everything is made in China. Seriously, pick up any object and look at where it came from. Ten bucks says it reads, “Made in China.” But what does this mean? Is it necessarily a bad thing? A lot of political debate has been ongoing concerning whether or not our mass exportation of manufacturing to foreign countries including China is beneficial to our economy, as well as whether or not exporting manufacturing to foreign countries without labor laws is even ethical. In order to make an informed decision, however, we must get the facts straight.

So why do we even manufacture so many of our goods in China? Simply put, it’s because of money. Labor in China is much cheaper than it is in America or first-world European countries, so it makes sense from a business standpoint to manufacture goods there. And while some people argue that exporting manufacturing to foreign countries negatively impacts our economy, I and others will argue that this is not the case. Indeed the American manufacturing sector has been declining as it is being exported overseas, but simultaneously our information sector has been increasing as well; and in the current world economy, information is much more valuable then manufacturing. Thus, our economy is not necessarily being exported or deteriorating, but merely changing from one primary form to another.

This just leaves one matter to be decided: is it ethical? My opinion is that while we cannot dissuade foreign manufacturing based upon economic principles, we can indeed dissuade foreign manufacturing based upon ethical standards. In order to continue exporting manufacturing overseas, we must be much more politically active in persuading foreign governments to adopt universal labor laws. Only then can we be totally certain that our exportation of manufacturing overseas is totally without negative consequences.