“I pity that man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth shall starve in the process.”
– Benjamin Harrison
When the 23rd President of the United States Ben Harrison said these words in the 19th century, fast fashion had yet to be invented, and the image that comes to mind when reading these words are of a single individual sewing fabric together furiously to make a living.
It’s hard to imagine this person when we think about certain brands like the GAP, Walmart or Zara because there is no single individual making the $5 t-shirt we buy off a discount rack, there are full factories of them.
While purchasing items have become infinitely more convenient and at a lesser cost for the consumer, this convenience is always at someone else’s expense. In order to be good people contributing to a functioning society in which all levels of people are treated fairly, it is imminently important to be willing to pay the true cost of an item, rather than the lowest sticker price.
If you like quotes like this one, consider checking out one of our other quotes.
