Comments on: Win-win

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:54:00 +0000

Huh. I didn’t consider that angle at all, but I’m sure you’re right. Shame on the CSM for its uncritical boosterism of World Vision. Their international reporting can sometimes be pretty good, but it sounds as if they missed the boat this time.

By: rr

rr — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:54:50 +0000

Don’t get me started on the rag trade. The shipping out of cast-off or unwanted garments to “the poor” completely fucks the local textile and garment trades in the “lucky” recipient countries. And often the garments are donated free and then sold on by unscrupulous clothes collectors making money out of the misplaced generosity of the ill-informed “first world”.

Um. Yes. That’s it. There’s more information on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) website. Or at least there used to be, last time I became aereated on this subject.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:02:36 +0000

Freaky! But it seems very much like the sort of surrealism that Eastern Europe is said to specialize in.

By: Joel Sax

Joel Sax — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:55:20 +0000

This reminds me of when I visited the Former Yugoslav Republic of Makedonia in 1992. Everywhere we went — in the flea markets, on the streets — we ran into people wearing University of Northern Arizona t-shirts. To this day, I haven’t been able to fathom the reason for this.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:49:15 +0000

Wait, you mean they resell this stuff on the ... black market?! Wow, this really is win-win! The White Man is Dead would make a great title for something, I'm not sure what.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:21:21 +0000

Awesome post, Dave.

Some years ago, on my first trip to Ghana, Ethan took me past the Obruni Wao (or Obruni Wa Wu) Market — the name means “The White Man is Dead,” and it’s popularly-understood that the clothing sold at the market comes from, well, dead white people overseas. *g*

I pointed E toward this post, and he noted that this stuff probably sells for a premium, inasmuch as the brands are well-known and the merchandise is pristine…

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:38:09 +0000

Try to catch your breath, Cleveland. This is rarified air.

Great link! Thanks.

By: Lorianne

Lorianne — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:32:58 +0000

You know, I was wondering about this just the other day: "What happens to the swag they make for the team that ends up losing?" Now that we know those loser shirts are being shipped off to Africa, here's a lingering question. What happens to the newspaper stories that were written just in case the home team won? It's a shame to see good copy go to waste, no?