Consumer Choices, Dirty Streets, and Televised Garbage Fires

Poppets, I hope you’re well, and I hope that you’re taking care of each other. To the internet!

If you read one thing today, read this long read, by our friend Meredith Haggerty: American Manufacturing Doesn’t Have to Die, looking at how we can speak platitudes to the moon about creating domestic jobs, or preventing human rights abuses in the clothing supply chain, but that none of it means anything until we’re willing to pay for it in the clothes that we purchase. Her portraits of American Giant’s factories, training, and employee incentive systems show a “supply chain [that] isn’t unimaginably bleak or impossible to know.” My American Giant hoodie is one of the best pieces of clothing I’ve ever owned - seriously, I wear it nearly everyday, and before that, I HATED hoodies - and I nearly didn’t buy it because of the cost. That price point is an issue discussed. Because it’s not just a rah-rah American Giant story, as Haggerty reminds us that “there’s something complicated about employing American workers for an American-made and American-labeled brand that they likely wouldn’t choose to spend their money on.” Overall, it’s a richly detailed portrait of an industry and the people that power it. Look, I’m not doing a great job of capturing this nuanced piece, so just go read it, why don’t you?

In other news, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Team reminds everyone that downtown San Francisco is indeed a garbage pile full of needles, trash and human poop. And here’s a thought from a UC Berkeley infectious disease expert that will make you never want to step outside, ever again: “once fecal matter dries, it can become airborne, releasing potentially dangerous viruses, such as the rotavirus.” COOLCOOLCOOLCOOL breaks out her northern california fire face mask until eternity

And while the ’Florida House votes down motion to take up weapons ban with Douglas students present,’ for some reason NRA national spokesperson Dana Loesch will be participating in the CNN town hall, "Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action,” which will be live this evening. Great. Juuuuuuuuuust great.

Stay kind, my darlings. And stay warm!