Made In America?

Jessica, who came to the English
Corner both times.  We have
remained in contact on WeChat.

Seattle, who says I feel like "her
mum."  She is lonely.

Summer, mother of the blind
girl and now mother of this
precious baby at right:

I've got to mail a package to Andrew with several items that he didn't have room in his luggage to take.  I have wanted to include a few presents to three people:  Jessica, Seattle, and Summer (who had a baby last fall).  So the last couple of weeks have included a couple of shopping trips.

However, though this is something that we know in theory, I discovered in full force how true it is.  You cannot find clothes made in our country.  You can find clothes that were made in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Taiwan, and of course (ubiquitously), China.  But not the USA.  

This state of affairs seems to have crept up on us surruptitiously.  Oh, we knew our clothing manufacturing was being farmed out to other countries, but the magnitude of it becomes real when a person truly tries to find something made in the U.S.

Think of how many manufacturing jobs have been eliminated.  Think of how many sweat shops have been created in other countries.  

I finally gave up and settled on clothing made anywhere (but in China) for Summer's two little girls.  I found some socks that are clearly labeled Made in America (brightly written on the package) and will send them to the others along with a couple of other small things.  It was the best I could do.  There is virtually no clothing made in the U.S. any more.  How did this happen?