Rant and Rave

You know, a blog is a good platform to air one's opinions and feelings to the rest of the world (in my case, 4 other people), just in case not everyone is aware of your stand on an issue, or there's a social injustice that needs to become public. I don't have any one particular topic in mind, but I find myself taking issue with several different topics in everyday conversation. Today was no different. I got on the subject of human and child cruelty forced upon individuals within the nation of China. There happens to be a job I'm working on, where all the tile selected is from China. The foreman disagreed with me and pointed to the label that said, ' Made in Italy'. I pointed out another label written in Chinese. Of course, neither one of us can read Chinese, but it's widely known among tile installers, this particular tile is made in China, probably by children no older than 14. The Chinese company makes the tile in China, maintains a factory in Italy, where the tile is shipped and packaged with the 'Made in Italy' label, then shipped to the 'blind to the fact' consumer in the US. They bought the company so they could use the Italian company name and label. Everyone knows the Italians and Spaniards are leading the industry with quality tiles and product, so acquiring the name alone is a very savvy, yet sly marketing move on the part of the Chinese company. Another issue is, the country of China is not under the same strict EPA laws enforced in the US and other countries somewhat conscious of the environment. Since human underage labor is cheap or forced, laborers are an endless commodity, thus the cheaper price for goods sold. Obviously we can't monitor every single item we consume, but if we knowingly purchase things produced under such conditions....? Sadly, if we were to make a difference in the world, some other opportunist would pick up the ball, and exploit another group of people in another part of the world. I just wish I could get paid by somebody to rant and rave endlessly on various subjects that stroke my fur the wrong direction! Exploit the exploiter, so to speak.