Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta Tango
Look at it this way:
If you need to buy something you'll scout the market and probably find exactly the same product being priced differently in two stores. Of course you'll buy from the cheaper one.
Can you be blamed? Of course not. Why would you pay more if it's not necessary?
But by choosing the cheaper store, you encourage lower wages for the store workers.
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Not necessarily. Maybe you encourage lower wages for management. Or more efficient administrations methods, so less money is lost on paperwork. Or cheaper rent for the location. Or better sources, with less layers between the store and the original source.
Farmers' markets often have cheaper vegetables than the supermarket, because they're not adding layers of packaging, shipping & storage costs. Big factories can often produce cheaper products than small ones, even with labor at the same price, because some costs are better absorbed by the constant activity in a large factory and some labor expenses are reduced by assembly lines, even if you pay the workers the same amount per hour.
Lower cost per item for the consumer doesn't have to mean "the workers got screwed over." It can mean " this was produced in a way that avoided waste."