Why it's so important to buy American
A handwritten note, found in a box of Halloween decorations purchased from an Oregon Kmart, read: If you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Rights Organization. Thousands people here who are under the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and remember you.
Written and smuggled out by a political prisoner forced into grueling, unpaid labor in an extralegal detention center, this plea for help would lead award-winning journalist Amelia Pang in pursuit of its origins. MADE IN CHINA: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods is Pang's exploration of the closely guarded secret network of Chinese forced labor camps and the hidden human cost of the cheap consumer goods exported to America and Europe, and sold by companies including Apple, H&M, Kmart, and Walmart.
Pang discusses the history of these forced labor camps, what is going on today with forced labor in China, how that forced labor impacts U.S. - China relations, how consumers can determine if their favorite brands are utilizing these forced work camps, and what small steps consumers can take to become education and influence change.
