Nike and Adidas amongst global brands using Uyghur Muslims as slave labor

[Youoverthere]

Does anyone know if Soletech uses slave labor?
All I know is that they’re made in Nam

[SK8houses]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

[Zephyr-Cum]

For the Culture.

[Yesterdays-pop]

Johan gives some LA slut cum dumpsters herpes and it goes 30pages I’m guessing this one will stop at about 5pages.
Hits too close to home and will ruin your life if you accept everything you own that is electronic or made of cotton was made by slaves.
These are the big brands being called out. Chances are that even if a company gets products that aren’t supplied from this region ,China and the distribution are lying to them.
Everything you own is made by slaves in China. There is more slavery now than any other time in the world.
The amount of environmental damage done at these plants is also insane, they literally dump toxic black dye straight into rivers that people drink out of down stream.
It’s chill we are all fucked.

[DA BIG BODY BENZ]

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. This doesn't exonerate people from spending their dollars thoughtfully, but it is important to remember.

This is so true....there really isnt anyway around it unfortunately unless your amish or some shit

[JANUS]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

I just checked several pairs of NB and they all say made in Indonesia.

[Land of the Faust]

Does anyone know if Soletech uses slave labor?
All I know is that they’re made in Nam

Vietnam's labor laws are downright disgusting. While they don't have out-and-out slavery, Vietnam does have "forced" overtime. Essentially the employees are forced to work extra hours with no extra pay.

 

[TD]

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I'm a bit stupid when it comes to economics. And don't know where to begin learning. But is it even possible to have a product made that is 'affordable' to us without the use of some nasty underpaid labor being involved?

Not backing slave labor btw. We mostly grow up in a world where a large amount of goods in front of us are products of both land/environment and people being heavily exploited.

It makes me feel helpless and I have yet to come to a conclusion about how to tackle this.

[close]

Pontus Alv's new shoe company, Last Resort AB, seems to be combating this issue somewhat. Obviously it will be skater owned and I think the shoes will be manufactured in Portugal. I'm no expert but from my understanding Portugal's shoe manufacturing industry has been on the rise lately.

They apparently have better craftsmanship and working conditions than their Asian counterparts right now. They still basically get paid the federal minimum but I guess that's better than literal slave labor.

Like I said I'm no expert but Portugal manufacturing seems like a much better option right now. Last Resort is supposed to be coming soon so we'll have to see how affordable they are but Pontus has said that they would be. I'm hoping the shoes are good and affordable because even small skater owned brands like State are made in china because they feel they have to in order to compete.

Edit: Never mind Last Resort are made in Vietnam.... God damn it Pontus.

Definitely how he planned to "bring the price down" for the skate shoes from the get go, unfortunately. Knowing that a lot of fast fashion houses have operated out of places like Portugal and Turkey for a long time doesn't sit well with me knowing that it's probably not too far off conditions elsewhere for these workers.

I'll bet that Last Resort AB will still cost a pretty penny everywhere.

[Land of the Faust]

Johan gives some LA slut cum dumpsters herpes and it goes 30pages I’m guessing this one will stop at about 5pages.
Hits too close to home and will ruin your life if you accept everything you own that is electronic or made of cotton was made by slaves.
These are the big brands being called out. Chances are that even if a company gets products that aren’t supplied from this region ,China and the distribution are lying to them.
Everything you own is made by slaves in China. There is more slavery now than any other time in the world.
The amount of environmental damage done at these plants is also insane, they literally dump toxic black dye straight into rivers that people drink out of down stream.
It’s chill we are all fucked.

It's easy to make claims against some idiot allegedly spreading some disease; It's much more difficult to look in the mirror and accept that the things we like (shoes, decks, et al.,) are made by child/slave labor.

The divisive crap that is created in this country is meant to obfuscate that real atrocities that are happening in the world.  If we really got serious about making societal change, we'd have to burn down all the things we like.

[cucktard]

Expand Quote

Johan gives some LA slut cum dumpsters herpes and it goes 30pages I’m guessing this one will stop at about 5pages.
Hits too close to home and will ruin your life if you accept everything you own that is electronic or made of cotton was made by slaves.
These are the big brands being called out. Chances are that even if a company gets products that aren’t supplied from this region ,China and the distribution are lying to them.
Everything you own is made by slaves in China. There is more slavery now than any other time in the world.
The amount of environmental damage done at these plants is also insane, they literally dump toxic black dye straight into rivers that people drink out of down stream.
It’s chill we are all fucked.

[close]

It's easy to make claims against some idiot allegedly spreading some disease; It's much more difficult to look in the mirror and accept that the things we like (shoes, decks, et al.,) are made by child/slave labor.

The divisive crap that is created in this country is meant to obfuscate that real atrocities that are happening in the world.  If we really got serious about making societal change, we'd have to burn down all the things we like.

I don’t think we need to burn down everything we like. But it will change drastically, in ways we can only start to imagine.

But what’s the alternative? Slightly ‘less’ slavery? Only a ‘slightly longer’ time till the climate burns us?

Let’s reimagine this society as something rational, and work towards it.

I tried to make a thread dedicated just to imagining what a post-capitalist skate scene would look like, but certain people wanted to focus on the details of the economics rather than the thought experiment.

[Lowcalcium]

I’m curious, I know Vans has a factory in CA. But do they also have factories in China?

I’d assume most of their materials come from China as well.

[SLAPASONIC]

Americans living in a country chock full of human rights violations and somehow still finding time to obsess over perceived Chinese injustice.

Wonder why? Who could this benefit?

The world does not revolve around America.

As fucked up America is with societal issues, the systematic human rights violations that people who practice Falun Gong, the Uyghur people, Tibetans and more minority groups within China face is horrendous. Kidnapping, organ harvesting, slave labor and sex trafficking, as much as people like to call red herring on those who focus on issues outside of America, remember the world does not focus solely on you guys.

My heart goes for the victims of injustices in America, but I know more people from Hong Kong, Taiwan (RoC) and India, and the shit China has been getting away with against these countries, and also against minority groups within their country, for the past few decades is horrendous.

[Matthew_James]

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Americans living in a country chock full of human rights violations and somehow still finding time to obsess over perceived Chinese injustice.

Wonder why? Who could this benefit?

[close]

The world does not revolve around America.

As fucked up America is with societal issues, the systematic human rights violations that people who practice Falun Gong, the Uyghur people, Tibetans and more minority groups within China face is horrendous. Kidnapping, organ harvesting, slave labor and sex trafficking, as much as people like to call red herring on those who focus on issues outside of America, remember the world does not focus solely on you guys.

My heart goes for the victims of injustices in America, but I know more people from Hong Kong, Taiwan (RoC) and India, and the shit China has been getting away with against these countries, and also against minority groups within their country, for the past few decades is horrendous.

I had to write an article for a news outlet pertaining to the atrocities committed against the folks who practice Falun Gong, they were unreal. Glad to see someone else is familiar with everything going on abroad, I don’t think most Americans have a clue about things that go on outside of the States if US interests aren’t involved. I know things aren’t awesome for everyone in the US, but they’re unfathomably worse for regular ppl who live in the areas you mentioned. Their government/ private enterprise relations are basically a recipe for human rights violations that would have Americans violently rioting if it happened stateside. Things would remain relatively unchanged in those countries if the US pulled their business interests out of these countries, and there’s little we can do to make things better there.

Not that I’m excusing companies trying to remain competitive by outsourcing labor from workforce’s who are subject to these abhorrent conditions, I’m just saying I see where the problem lies and it’s greater than us. Widespread onsumer culture would practically disappear overnight if China, Taiwan, Indonesia, etc. had a western style revolution that prioritized individual liberties.

[nicotinewheel]

Expand Quote

Americans living in a country chock full of human rights violations and somehow still finding time to obsess over perceived Chinese injustice.

Wonder why? Who could this benefit?

[close]

The world does not revolve around America.

As fucked up America is with societal issues, the systematic human rights violations that people who practice Falun Gong, the Uyghur people, Tibetans and more minority groups within China face is horrendous. Kidnapping, organ harvesting, slave labor and sex trafficking, as much as people like to call red herring on those who focus on issues outside of America, remember the world does not focus solely on you guys.

My heart goes for the victims of injustices in America, but I know more people from Hong Kong, Taiwan (RoC) and India, and the shit China has been getting away with against these countries, and also against minority groups within their country, for the past few decades is horrendous.

The human rights concern trolling in the west is largely due to the perceived Chinese threat to US capital/hegemony.

The fact that the world does not revolve around America, and it’s allies, is at the heart of the issue.

My point is not that China or any other country is beyond criticism, but that the US has no position of moral high ground to indict China from.

[nicotinewheel]

Widespread onsumer culture would practically disappear overnight if China, Taiwan, Indonesia, etc. had a western style revolution that prioritized individual liberties.

LOL

[paraquat]

Everyone writing this off should be ashamed. “Duh it would be hippocritcal if me to be mad duh, because my computer is uh made in China”
This is pretty transparent. China allows and provides slaves to make products for large companies. We can make a difference if we start small and stop supporting this. The only thing that resembles capitalism in this scenario is that money is exchanged for goods. I don’t care where you land on the political spectrum. You should be outraged and angry at this.

[ndsr]

I’m curious, I know Vans has a factory in CA. But do they also have factories in China?

I’d assume most of their materials come from China as well.

US environmental laws especially in ca are stringent.  The process of cooking the rubber to vulcanize it isn’t allowed.  Same goes with producing the styrofoam used in the center of surf boards.  Everything made with those processes has been done out of the US for quite some time.

[l1ll1ll1]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

Shit. I definitely want to vote with my money, so I'm hoping Polar's new shoe company is gonna be good. They should be out in september, produced in Portugal – hopefully not by a chinese colony, that is what China does lately, just producing in foreign countries, under shit conditions with cheap chinese labor so they can tag the products "Made in Italy", for example.

[Land of the Faust]

Expand Quote

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Americans living in a country chock full of human rights violations and somehow still finding time to obsess over perceived Chinese injustice.

Wonder why? Who could this benefit?

[close]

The world does not revolve around America.

As fucked up America is with societal issues, the systematic human rights violations that people who practice Falun Gong, the Uyghur people, Tibetans and more minority groups within China face is horrendous. Kidnapping, organ harvesting, slave labor and sex trafficking, as much as people like to call red herring on those who focus on issues outside of America, remember the world does not focus solely on you guys.

My heart goes for the victims of injustices in America, but I know more people from Hong Kong, Taiwan (RoC) and India, and the shit China has been getting away with against these countries, and also against minority groups within their country, for the past few decades is horrendous.

[close]

The human rights concern trolling in the west is largely due to the perceived Chinese threat to US capital/hegemony.

The fact that the world does not revolve around America, and it’s allies, is at the heart of the issue.

My point is not that China or any other country is beyond criticism, but that the US has no position of moral high ground to indict China from.

You're not wrong. We aren't great about the things we do to our people on the lowest rungs of society. That said, we don't hold a candle to what the Chinese government is doing to the Uyghers. We're not sterilizing anyone in the United states or sending anyone to 're-education' camps because they believe in things that are not approved by the government. 

[eraserheadfuckers]

[SK8houses]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

[close]

I just checked several pairs of NB and they all say made in Indonesia.

You're correct, was in my local shop and looked at the tags on the Nb#. All said made in Indonesia.
All of the new balance I have skated between 2015-17 all say made in China. Specifically the Arto(358), brightons(now 345) and quincys(now 255). Stopped skating them after 2017. They must have switched the factories after 2017.
Start-2017: China
2018-Current: Indonesia
 

I did hear a rumor that they were going to make the Nb# line in the US/UK factories but never saw that happen...

[artskool]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

[close]

I just checked several pairs of NB and they all say made in Indonesia.

[close]

You're correct, was in my local shop and looked at the tags on the Nb#. All said made in Indonesia.
All of the new balance I have skated between 2015-17 all say made in China. Specifically the Arto(358), brightons(now 345) and quincys(now 255). Stopped skating them after 2017. They must have switched the factories after 2017.
Start-2017: China
2018-Current: Indonesia
 

I did hear a rumor that they were going to make the Nb# line in the US/UK factories but never saw that happen...

Any NB that's under $160ish is made overseas. Everybody likes to complain about their stuff being made in Asia, but if their skate shoes were $169.99 they'd just complain about the price instead. Even their USA made product is made half overseas, then glued and stitched in New England.

I'd buy Last Resort made in Portugal or Italy for a premium. That said, garment workers are treated pretty badly everywhere in the world. LA factories especially are known for being super sleazy.

All that said, what's happening to the Uyguhr's is a crime against humanity.

[Roast beef]

Everyone writing this off should be ashamed. “Duh it would be hippocritcal if me to be mad duh, because my computer is uh made in China”
This is pretty transparent. China allows and provides slaves to make products for large companies. We can make a difference if we start small and stop supporting this. The only thing that resembles capitalism in this scenario is that money is exchanged for goods. I don’t care where you land on the political spectrum. You should be outraged and angry at this.

lol so are you gonna destroy all you’re possessions that were made in China now? If not you should be ashamed of yourself.

[Land of the Faust]

Hell, renationalizing a few of these industries would fix a majority of these issues. Not only that, but renationalizing these industries would fix a big portion of the unemployment issues the US is facing. Corporations only go to these countries because they're able to take advantage of the deplorable working conditions that are forced upon the populace in those nations.


Would renationalizing fix the inequality issues in the US, probably not. That said, paying someone minimum wage in a first world nation is far preferable than forcing children to make shoes in China.

[DaSk8D00D]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

[close]

I just checked several pairs of NB and they all say made in Indonesia.

New Balance has Made in the US shoes but only a handful of models and they're pricey. I doubt anyone's ever bought a pair of US made New Balances without knowing it

[cucktard]

Everyone writing this off should be ashamed. “Duh it would be hippocritcal if me to be mad duh, because my computer is uh made in China”
This is pretty transparent. China allows and provides slaves to make products for large companies. We can make a difference if we start small and stop supporting this. The only thing that resembles capitalism in this scenario is that money is exchanged for goods. I don’t care where you land on the political spectrum. You should be outraged and angry at this.

Capitalism, since its early days has ALWAYS tended towards exploitation. Don’t kid yourself that we aren’t living in some textbook Mises world.

Aggregation of capitalism is aggregation of power, which is circular. It has done this this again and again throughout history, from child labor to 12-hour workdays to increasingly pollution to now sweatshops, slave labor, and finally, Global Heating that is an actual threat to our planet.

Exploitation is built into this system, and it needs to be replaced, not reformed.

This should be obvious by now.

[SK8houses]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

[close]

I just checked several pairs of NB and they all say made in Indonesia.

[close]

You're correct, was in my local shop and looked at the tags on the Nb#. All said made in Indonesia.
All of the new balance I have skated between 2015-17 all say made in China. Specifically the Arto(358), brightons(now 345) and quincys(now 255). Stopped skating them after 2017. They must have switched the factories after 2017.
Start-2017: China
2018-Current: Indonesia
 

I did hear a rumor that they were going to make the Nb# line in the US/UK factories but never saw that happen...

[close]

Any NB that's under $160ish is made overseas. Everybody likes to complain about their stuff being made in Asia, but if their skate shoes were $169.99 they'd just complain about the price instead. Even their USA made product is made half overseas, then glued and stitched in New England.

I'd buy Last Resort made in Portugal or Italy for a premium. That said, garment workers are treated pretty badly everywhere in the world. LA factories especially are known for being super sleazy.

All that said, what's happening to the Uyguhr's is a crime against humanity.

Also interested in trying out last resort once they are available.

What has been happening to the Uyguhrs is something that should not be allowed.

[cucktard]

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People bring up the abhorrent realities of shoe manufacturing, but I seldom see a suggested remedy that accompanies it. What do we as consumers do to change this? Do we exclusively buy New Balances made in the US/ UK? Do we pony up several hundred/ thousand dollars and buy high fashion shoes hand made in Italy/ Paris? It’s always a slippery slope once we start talking about how we’d go about fixing this sort of thing, but if anyone has any practical solutions I’d be more than willing to listen...

[close]

Yes.

[close]

Really interested: Are NB Numerics produced in England or the US? Apparently New Balance also started producing some of its stuff in China, but I don't know which part of their product line.

[close]

Nb# are made in China. Every pair I have skated have a made in China patch inside. Maybe some of their other shoe lines are made in the US/UK though.

Do any skate shoe companies use ethically sourced labor?

[close]

Shit. I definitely want to vote with my money, so I'm hoping Polar's new shoe company is gonna be good. They should be out in september, produced in Portugal – hopefully not by a chinese colony, that is what China does lately, just producing in foreign countries, under shit conditions with cheap chinese labor so they can tag the products "Made in Italy", for example.

I get this, I try to vote with my money too, but I’ve been trying it for about 20+ years now, and it’s about as effective as voting in real life.

Because it’s the same problem. The system is designed to allow for Biden or Trump, sweatshop made Vans or sweatshop-made Nike’s, and basically it’s whichever branding you prefer.

‘Voting with money’ puts the ethical responsibility on the consumer, not the ones actually doing the exploiting. It’s fucking backwards.

[loosenuts]

spiderman meme

[FROTHY]

Cariuma and Simple stand behind their standards of labor, but their stuff is made in China too, and there isn't full disclosure of their practices, so it's kind of hard to find something you know is made ethically. I'll support companies that I know do right by the environment and their workers, but that alone is hard as fuck to know with any confidence.