Chuck Sweeny: Lots of letters on Chinese-made Olympic uniforms

Tuesday, I wrote about the kerfuffle in Congress over the discovery that designer Ralph Lauren had Team USA?s uniforms for the London Olympics made in China. I asked what you thought about the column. And you sure let me know. Here?s some of what you said.

Fred Wallin wrote: ?I buy American. On the Indian flag is a spinning wheel. Ghandi told the Indians stop buying from England and make and buy Indian.?

John Cedarstrom said, ?Maybe the politicians should be more concerned about not allowing Boeing to build airliners in North Carolina than where some shirts are made.?

Mary Anderson said, ?Olympics uniforms should not have been made in China; they could have been made here in the U.S.

But, how many years has this been going on? This is probably not the first time. So, let?s learn from this and change the rules for the future. Also, how about President Obama?s new tour bus? It was made in Canada! Where?s the outrage there??

Note: The Secret Service bought two buses from Prevost, a Quebec corporation. President Obama uses one, and when he becomes the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney will get the other one. The bus interiors were installed in Tennessee. President George W. Bush rode in an earlier model Prevost bus in the 2004 campaign.

Rebecca Laible said she doesn?t often agree with me. ?In fact, I?ve been known to choke on my coffee when reading your column.? But this reaction to the Olympic uniforms is ridiculous. If the uniforms had been made in the U.S. the cost would have at least tripled. When I taught, I had one lesson where I had the students check where their clothes had been manufactured. No one was wearing anything that was made in the U.S. And where was this outrage when the uniforms for the Mitt Romney Olympics were made in Burma/Myanmar??

Note: Rebecca is right. The American uniforms for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were made in Burma.

?Myanmar? is the name foisted on Burma by the military dictators in 1989 after it put down a popular revolt, killing thousands.

To Aung San Suu Ky and the democracy movement she leads, the name is Burma. Laible knows this because she taught refugee children who reminded her that they were from Burma, not Myanmar.

Julie Elliot wrote: ?Here we go again. The DEMOCRATS are outraged?? Democrat Presidents and Democrat majority Congresses, for the last several decades, have been passing legislation encouraging use of goods made in foreign countries.?

From Brookfield, Wis., Roger Brace chimed in, ?Guess the Olympic committee couldn?t afford higher-quality Dominican yard goods, eh??

Mark Schwendau said he had mixed emotions. ?Most of my Harley clothing is made in China. I think I had a bigger issue over that idiotic Ralph Lauren polo pony over the left breast. I refuse to wear anything of his due to that branding. I also hate the little gator of whoever that line belongs to.?

Note: I searched for ?gator on shirt? on Google and could find only Florida Gators shirts including Gator Chomp Shirts, and John Deere Gator shirts. Maybe Mark meant crocodile.
?Erudition? commented on the hypocrisy of criticizing the uniforms? country of origin, but nothing else.

?Let?s look at the bigger picture and ask some more questions,? Erudition said.

?Where are the athletic shoes made that most American competitors will be wearing? What about the socks, swimsuits, eye goggles, running shorts, sports bras, headbands, sweatbands, hats, etc??

?Love and Liberty? said, ?We?re value-driven (read: low price) consumers who have contributed to the downfall of our own manufacturing. Buying local, regional or domestic is great, it helps the neighbors, but I don?t need the government to tell me that.?

?Kevin 1986? said, ?This issue is just fodder for the stupid. Populism at its worst.?

?Durand Tea Party? commented, ?What department store jobs don?t pay, is made up, by far, in better workplace conditions.

That said, jobs in design, marketing, and retail are a lot more lucrative than jobs in sweatshops. Outsourcing works, if you are apt to work the jobs that replaced the outsourced. It?s that simple! Better, it?s your choice!?

?Perseus? said, ?Those legislators should drop their pants (or skirts) and read the label.?

Finally, ?Quixotic? commented, ?Most clothing purchased and worn in America has been made in other countries for decades now. American-made clothing is available, but generally at a price that most Americans can?t or won?t pay.

Most of the nearly $2,000 per Olympic uniform cost will not be enjoyed by the Chinese seamstresses. The politicians who created and backed the policies that opened trade with other countries and made it much more lucrative for businesses to send these kinds of jobs offshore are very disingenuous to now beat their chests about the horrors of this uniform purchase.?

Thank you all for your comments!

Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; csweeny@rrstar.com

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/columnists/x736427663/Chuck-Sweeny-Lots-of-readers-letters-on-Chinese-made-Olympic-uniforms

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