Letter to the editor.......

No guilt trip here

I've been going to Fanshawe College for the past two years, this being my final semester before I graduate (Business Accounting). I've been reading Interrobang for the entire two years I've been attending this great school, and there has been a constant type of article I have always seen and read in each paper. “Anti-Corporatism” is one way you could describe it, or maybe a strong socialist bias is another way, however I've really started to grow to hate these articles and how badly skewed they are.

Sure, not all corporations are good, I can think of many that are corrupt. However, people need to understand that a lot of corporations that do what they do to stay afloat. When they buy items from China or India which are of very low costs, they do it because their competitors are doing it, and if they don't, their consumers will stop coming through their doors (then you have workers out of jobs, economy suffers etc...).

Competition is the name of the game. Chinas factories (you know the ones who pay their workers minimally) are in direct competition with Indian factories. This is a large part of why the workers are paid little. If their wage increases, the buyer moves to another factory where the price is lower, and those workers would then have NO job. Then you have to think to yourself isn't $1/h better then $0/h?

It should also be said that in China their workers are given free board by the factory, though not spacious or luxurious by any means, they are fed and sheltered for free. Also a good portion of the workers choose to work overtime (yes you read right, not forced) to get extra money to send back to their families who live outside the large cities.

We, in North America, are consumer whores. No doubt about it. However we also don't want to pay out of our ass for a chocolate bar, or a keyboard ( I'll pass on the $90 for a regular keyboard thanks!). We don't have as much money as we did before either. Where one person could support a household with two cars before, now two people need to work, longer and harder for the same luxury.

So why wouldn't I want my products to be a lower price?

People need to understand that how China is growing, they are going to be the new “kid on the block” and North America will be the ones providing the services and products to China. So soon these low prices will be getting higher, and our wages will be getting lower as companies here start competing for Chinas business.

Is it sad that people don't have the same living style as us? Sure.

Is it possible that all of the all 6.5 billion of us could have this life style? No.

People need to understand that life is not fair. It's been like that for all of time, and its not going to change anytime soon. So if I can get an item for cheap, I'm going to buy it for cheap, and I'm not going to feel bad, or have a guilt trip over it.

Alex Brown

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.