Just complaining

I just bought a pair of knit pants, elastic waist.  I have worn them 3 times and will have to replace the elastic.  And these were not cheap pants either.  I paid $69 for them.  The only thing cheap about them was the fabric and notions used to make them.  And everything I look at is made of polyester.  Do you know what polyester is?  It is spun plastic.  Put that in a landfill and it is there forever.  It is the same stuff that is forming an island in the Pacific. 

I am old enough to remember when we made everything.  When we have good jobs.  As a seamstress, I remember those great fabrics we made here in this county.  Dan River ginghams, seersucker, fantastic wools and compton corduroy.  Hell, even our flour came in cotton sacks that were reused in kids clothing.  Now we produce nothing, nothing.  And we have done it to ourselves.  We like the cheap stuff.  We can go shopping and but tons of cheap stuff, wear it a couple of times and throw it away.  Quality no longer counts.  We as consumers have sold our livelihood for cheap garbage.  The consumer controls the market.  And by demanding cheap stuff, we have made it so easy for those companies to accomidate us and make huge profits off using slave labor to produce those cheap goods.  Now a pair of plastic shoes sells for $70 and we just shell out for that crap.  Athletic shoes.  Better be ready to shell out over $100 if you want a pair that will last more than 3 months.  And those with memory foam, yeah, as soon as that memory foam gets damp, you have no more cushioning.  And the sizes.  My foot measures 6/2 M.  In a shoe, I have to buy 71/2 to 8 and in an athletic shoe it is 81/2 or a 9.  I can excuse this generation because they have never known any better, but those from my generation and my children's generation know better.  You get what you will settle for.  Just like being sold on the right to work laws.  Those laws only benefit the companies.  It does nothing for the employee.  It is a union busting law.  Nothing more and the fools who work an hourly wage have fallen for it like a ton of bricks.  "They can't force me to pay union dues." No, they can't, and you cannot force those companies making money hand over fist to pay you a living wage.  Nor can you for decent health care nor safe working places.  Do you know the real reason employers want to hire the illegal foreign nationals?  They don't have to meet labor regulations nor OSHA safety regulations.  But you the consumer do not care because you get cheap goods.  Never mind that you don't make crap, just the cheap goods and by God no union dues.  You showed those damned unions.  And you the taxpayer subsidize health care, You pay those higher prices in benefits paid out to compensate for the low wages and no job benefits.  Better think about this.